\u201cWe are visual animals,\u201d said Harel.<\/p>\n
![\"Assaf](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2015\/11\/Assaf-Harel-16528_684-508x360.jpg\")
<\/a>Assaf Harel, an assistant psychology professor and cognitive neuroscientist at Wright State, has built a pioneering lab to probe how the brain processes visual images. (Photos by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n
Harel received his doctorate in cognitive neuropsychology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), where he studied expertise in visual object recognition. He did postdoctoral work at the National Institute of Mental Health, studying visual recognition using functional, cutting-edge MRI analysis techniques. He joined the faculty at Wright State in 2014.<\/p>\n
Harel is directly recording brain measurements, which has the great advantage of not having to rely upon verbal reports of the subjects, which can be biased.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtracting meaning from the environment is a very difficult computational problem,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you have a computer trying to understand the world \u2014 trying to have the rich experience that we have and make fine discriminations we can make \u2014 it\u2019s going to fail dismally.\u201d<\/p>\n
But a computer can be programmed to focus on how visual images affect brainwaves. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is used to track and record brain wave patterns through electrodes placed on the scalp that send signals to the computer.<\/p>\n
The chamber in the lab is plated with metal designed to filter out any electrical frequencies or interferences that could hamper the recording of data. Brain responses measured by the 64-electrode cap stream through an amplifier and a fiberoptic connection enroute to a bank of computers that display the EEG waves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s noninvasive and a direct measurement of the brain activity,\u201d Harel said. \u201cIt has all of the great advantages of studying the relationship between the brain and behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers can measure how the brain responds differently to images of faces and non-face objects, how quickly the brain recognizes images and how the brain recognizes large spatial images such as mountain ranges and deserts. It boils down to discovering where and when in the brain different visual processes occur.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I think we will reveal is that vision is a very interactive process \u2014 where what you think, what you expect, what you need to do with the visual information actually constrains and leads you to particular interpretations,\u201d Harel said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see with your eyes. We\u2019re not cameras. We\u2019re actually cognitive agents, and we\u2019re actually seeing with our brains.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Psychology](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2015\/11\/Assaf-Harel-16528_752-508x324.jpg\")
<\/a>Psychology student Jackie Ewald prepares to view images during an experiment in the new cognitive neuroscience lab.<\/p><\/div>\n
The images not only include faces, but landscapes such as mountains, beaches and forests and objects like motorcycles and roller skates. Some of the images are upside down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings have a particular structure, and if you invert them you mess around with that structure,\u201d Harel said. \u201cYou are going to have a harder time memorizing the face and responding to it. The question is whether that causes a difference in the brain waves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Results of the research could potentially be used to address attention deficits.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could really hone in and focus on particular markers of attention, then ask what particular aspects are impaired,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could also use it as a training tool and enhance attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, a UAV operator whose cognitive abilities are eroded by long hours could be prompted to refocus if an EEG detected flagging attention.<\/p>\n
The new lab will be shared with any Wright State college or department such as engineering, science, math and medicine that need EEG data for their research.<\/p>\n
Kathrin Engisch, interim dean of the College of Science and Mathematics<\/a>, called the lab a \u201cfantastic opportunity\u201d for the entire university.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful for the number of students who are going to be able to see something like this,\u201d Engisch said. \u201cWe have never had anything before like this. It sets us apart from most of the universities around us. We\u2019re proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wright State cognitive neuroscientist Assaf Harel builds pioneering lab to probe how the brain processes visual images. Continue reading