Visual perception

Background Prioritizing groupings of organisms or ‘units’ below the species level is a critical issue for conservation purposes. Several techniques encompassing different time-frames, from genetics to ecological markers, have been considered to evaluate existing biological diversity at a sufficient temporal resolution to define conservation units. Given that acoustic signals are expressions of phenotypic diversity, their analysis may provide crucial information on current differentiation patterns within species. Here, we tested whether differences previously delineated within dolphin species based on i) geographic isolation, ii) genetics regardless isolation, and iii) habitat, regardless isolation and genetics, can be detected through acoustic monitoring. Recordings collected from 104 acoustic encounters of Stenella coeruleoalba, Delphinus delphis and Tursiops truncatus in the Azores, Canary Islands, the Alboran Sea and the Western Mediterranean basin between 1996 and 2012 were anal...

The purpose of this study was to identify the different factors that an oculoplastic surgeon should consider while practicing cosmetic or reconstructive eyebrow surgery in order to have the final patient's satisfaction. In an observational case series study, five photographs were taken from each of 60 females to show ideal eyebrow positioning with fingers. Eyebrow landmarks, including tarsal plate show (TPS) and eyebrow height, were measured in the ideal position. Brow apex position and brow apex angle were evaluated in the desired position of eyebrow. The mean desired apex angle of eyebrow was measured as 135±9 mm. In all, 48.33% of our subjects preferred a wider brow angle, 28.33% a narrower one, and 23.33% a brow angle without any change. The location of brow peak was transferred to the lateral canthus in the desired position. The ideal brow peak in the lateral canthus and between lateral canthus and lateral limbus was assigned to 33.3% and 66.6% of cases, respectively. The d...

The evidence that action shapes perception has become widely accepted, for example, in the domain of vision. However, the manner in which action-relevant factors might influence the neural dynamics of acute pain processing has remained underexplored, particularly the functional roles of anterior insula (AI) and midanterior cingulate cortex (mid-ACC), which are frequently implicated in acute pain. To address this, we examined a unique group of heterozygous carriers of the rare R221W mutation on the nerve growth factor (NGF) gene. R221W carriers show a congenitally reduced density of C-nociceptor afferent nerves in the periphery, but can nonetheless distinguish between painful and nonpainful stimulations. Despite this, carriers display a tendency to underreact to acute pain behaviorally, thus exposing a potential functional gap in the pain–action relationship and allowing closer investigation of how the brain integrates pain and action information. Heterozygous R221W carriers and matc...

A major interest of research in face recognition lies in explaining the Face Inversion Effect (FIE), in which the recognition of an inverted face is less successful than that of an upright face. However, prior research has devoted little effort to examining how the cognitive system handles comparison between upright and inverted faces. In two experiments, such comparison is found to be based on visual similarity rather than on mental rotation of the inverted face to upright. Visual similarity is based on certain elements mutual to the two faces, which resist the transformation of inversion. These elements are symmetrical or salient components of the face, such as round eyes or thick lips.

For humans, facial expressions are important social signals, and how we perceive specific individuals may be influenced by subtle emotional cues that they have given us in past encounters. A wide range of animal species are also capable of discriminating the emotions of others through facial expressions [1-5], and it is clear that remembering emotional experiences with specific individuals could have clear benefits for social bonding and aggression avoidance when these individuals are encountered again. Although there is evidence that non-human animals are capable of remembering the identity of individuals who have directly harmed them [6, 7], it is not known whether animals can form lasting memories of specific individuals simply by observing subtle emotional expressions that they exhibit on their faces. Here we conducted controlled experiments in which domestic horses were presented with a photograph of an angry or happy human face and several hours later saw the person who had gi...

The current study assessed the effects of two teaching stimulus presentations, i.e. picture to word and word to word, used to teach second language vocabulary to college students. It also evaluated the emergence of untaught relations when picture to word and word to word were used separately as a teaching strategy. The findings showed picture to word training resulted in more untaught relations. Several aspects such time allotted for online quizzes, experimental and teaching arrangements and vocabulary complexity were suggested for future research.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain computer interfaces (BCI) are being increasingly sought out in the study of neural engineering, rehabilitation, and brain related sciences, by the research community. BCI enables people who have acute challenges in using their motor skills like hands, feet etc, in leading life that is not locked-in. This report performs a study on the topic of Brain Computer Interface, the science involved and its applications. A study of Machine Learning and its application in the area of Brain Computer Interface is also investigated. Artificial Neural Networks are studies and results from previous authors are also shared. A continued study in the area of Recurrent Neural Network(RNN) and Long and Short Term Memory (LSTM) are proposed at the end of this study.

Accurate temporal information processing is critically important in many motor activities within disciplines such as dance, music, and sport. However, it is still unclear how temporal information related to biological motion is processed by expert and non-expert performers. It is well-known that the auditory modality dominates the visual modality in processing temporal information of simple stimuli, and that experts outperform non-experts in biological motion perception. In the present study, we combined these two areas of research; we investigated how experts and non-experts detected temporal deviations in tap dance sequences, in the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. We found that temporal deviations were better detected in the auditory modality compared to the visual modality, and by experts compared to non-experts. However, analyses indicated that these effects were mainly due to performances obtained by experts in the auditory modality. The results suggest that ...

The verii¬cation index is indicated to coni¬rm the accuracy of the implant position. To construct a stone index, place the transfers in the master model, add wax to the model to promote adequate spacing between the index and the mucosal tissue. Make a wall with wax, in order to allow pouring of the highprecision stone inside the space. After the crystallization of the stone, remove the index and try it in the patient’s mouth. The index of stone should be adapted and screwed into the mouth accurately.

Practicing with the use of a ball machine could handicap a player compared to playing against an actual opponent. Recent studies have shown some differences in swing timing and movement coordination, when a player faces a ball projection machine as opposed to a human opponent. We focused on the time of movement initiation and on stroke timing during returning tennis serves (simulated by a ball machine or by a real server). Receivers' movements were measured on a tennis court. In spite of using a serving ball speed from 90 kph to 135 kph, results showed significant differences in movement initiation and backswing duration between serves received from a ball machine and serves received from a real server. Players had shorter movement initiation when they faced a ball machine. Backswing duration was longer for the group using a ball machine. That demonstrates different movement timing of tennis returns when players face a ball machine. Use of ball machines in tennis practice should...

Behavioral and electrophysiology studies have shown that humans possess a certain self-awareness of their individual timing ability. However, conflicting reports raise concerns about whether humans can discern the direction of their timing error, calling into question the extent of this temporal metacognition. To understand the depth of this ability, the impact of non-directional feedback and reinforcement learning on time perception were examined in a unique temporal reproduction paradigm that involved a mixed set of interval durations the opportunity to repeat every trial immediately after receiving feedback, essentially allowing a “re-do.” Within this task, we tested two groups of participants on versions where non-directional feedback was provided after every response, or not provided at all. Participants in both groups demonstrated reduced central tendency and exhibited significantly greater accuracy in the re-do trial temporal estimates, showcasing metacognitive ability and an...

How much of the functional organization of our visual system is inherited? Here we tested the heritability of retinotopic maps in human visual cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We demonstrate that retinotopic organization shows a closer correspondence in monozygotic (MZ) compared to dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs, suggesting a partial genetic determination. Using population receptive field (pRF) analysis to examine the preferred spatial location and selectivity of these neuronal populations, we estimate a heritability around 30% for polar angle preferences and spatial selectivity, as quantified by pRF size, in extrastriate areas V2 and V3. Our findings are consistent with heritability in both the macroscopic arrangement of visual regions and stimulus tuning properties of visual cortex. This could constitute a neural substrate for variations in a range of perceptual effects, which themselves have been found to be at least partially genetically determined. These findings ...

Comorbidity of vestibular and anxiety disorders was suggested by epidemiological studies and, recently, new insights into potential neural circuits which subserve both balance control and emotions, appear to support this hypothesis. In particular, disorienting visual surroundings, such as those generated by full-field moving scenes, equally disrupt postural control of patients with vestibular or panic disorders. In the present study, behaviour of body sway was assessed in response to an optokinetic stimulation by means of static posturography in 20 patients with vestibular neuritis (10 patients with normal affect and 10 with generalized anxiety disorders, as diagnosed according to the American Psychiatric Association criteria), and 20 normal subjects who served as controls. Optokinetic responses and vestibulo-spinal function during a full-field, bi-directional horizontal optokinetic stimulation, were recorded simultaneously. Labyrinthine-defective patients with low and high level of...

The problem of how physical systems, such as brains, come to representthemselves as subjects in an objective world is addressed. I developan account of the requirements for this ability that draws on and refines work in a philosophical tradition that runs from Kant throughPeter Strawson to Gareth Evans. The basic idea is that the ability torepresent oneself as a subject

I briefly sketch a notion of generic phenomenology, and what I call the wave-collapse illusion – a less radical cousin of the refrigerator light illusion – to the effect that transitions from generic to detailed phenomenology are not noticed as phenomenal changes. Change blindness and inattentional blindness can be analyzed as cases where certain things are phenomenally present, but generically so.

A organização de dados sobre a produção científica de um período contribui para a continuidade da pesquisa e para o desenvolvimento de um campo particular do conhecimento. O principal objetivo desta pesquisa é conhecer o panorama da produção científica sobre programação da produção em sistemas flow fhop permutacional envolvendo medidas de atraso, de maneira quantitativa, identificando os periódicos de destaque, autores que mais abordaram o tema e os trabalhos mais representativos. Tratou-se de um estudo de análise bibliométrica, através da base de dados Web of Science e seu tratamento pelos softwares ResearcherID® e VosViewer®. Para a pesquisa, utilizou-se os seguintes expressões-chave: "permu * flow * e tard *" ou "permu * flow* e atras*", gerando uma amostra constituída por 133 artigos. Ao final do estudo, apresentou-se resultados de estatística descritiva com várias identificações, como os principais autores e os artigos e periódicos mais referenciados por est...

Consciousness and Reproducibility What exactly does it mean for neural information to reach subjective awareness? Previous work has suggested that the intensity and the duration of activation in brain areas that encode the contents of perception determine whether or not the information contributes directly to subjective experience. Now Schurger et al. (p. 97 , published online 12 November; see the Perspective by Schwarzkopf and Rees ) describe a third property that distinguishes conscious from nonconscious neural encoding reproducibility. Spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity were recorded while subjects performed a simple visual category-discrimination task. Activation patterns corresponding to conscious information were more reproducible—i.e., more reliable, across different presentations of the same stimulus category, compared to nonconscious activation patterns coding for the same perception.

On the basis of recent neurophysiological results related to research in the noradrenergic system we predicted a correlation between platelet MAO activity, serum DBH and the strength of the contrast illusion (Uznadze effect) provoked in the visual field. The mechanism of this illusion is that the neuronal representation of a previously inspected figure distorts the correct perception of a subsequently displayed test figure. Those layers that play important role in these processes are under massive noradrenergic influence. This gives sufficient reason to test our hypothesis. Thirty healthy subjects were submitted to blood sampling and psychological experiment. A significant negative correlation was found between MAO activity and the strength of the contrast illusion (r:)0.3634; p < 0:05). This result is relevant to the hypothesis that platelet MAO activity could be a good marker of the activity of the monoaminergic systems in the brain. At the same time the correlation that was found suggests that the fixed set method could be a useful noninvasive tool for biological personality research on this field.