Research in my laboratory addresses the mechanisms of intermediate-level human vision. We are concerned with the perceptual issues surrounding the creation, selection, and maintenence of visual object representations. These mechanisms include perceptual organization, visual attention, and object recognition. The methods we use to investigate these mechanisms include the measurement of response time and accuracy using the techniques of psychophysics and experimental psychology, and measurements of human brain activity patterns using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the F. M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging.

Much of our recent work explores the neural basis of attentional control using fMRI. We have investigated the voluntary deployment of attention to spatial locations, features, and objects, and involuntary attentional capture. We are also examining the extent to which shifts of attention and eye movements are controlled by unique neural circuits. Another project is exploring shifts of attention between sensory modalities (i.e., vision and audition). Our studies of attentional control have also probed top-down control of perceptually ambiguous visual stimuli, such as the Necker cube.

     Students in my lab receive training in a variety of methods, including the use of a computer-based experimental psychology laboratory, and the design, implementation, and analysis of fMRI studies of the human visual system. Together with the other core faculty actively using fMRI in their research (Susan Courtney, Amy Shelton, and Craig Stark) I offer frequent courses and seminars that provide a lively research environment for learning about theory and methods in cognitive neuroscience. Students in my laboratory also benefit from the availability for advanced coursework and interdisciplinary research experience in collaborating laboratories in the departments of Cognitive Science and Neuroscience at JHU.