Project description
A closer look at the predictive mechanisms of perceptual history
Our perception of the world is not just a snapshot of current sensory input, but is influenced by recent visual experiences. This phenomenon, known as perceptual history, can cause us to perceive objects as more similar to recent stimuli than they actually are. However, whether this effect is due to low-level sensory processing or higher cognitive decision-making remains unclear. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PreVis project will integrate psychophysical techniques with EEG (electroencephalography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). PreVis proposes that perceptual history might involve predictive mechanisms in high-level brain areas rather than just past stimuli alone. This approach could enhance our understanding of how our visual system integrates past and present information.
Objective
What we see at any given time is not solely determined by the information currently reaching our eyes. The visual system is indeed thought to leverage on perceptual history – i.e. the stimuli saw in the recent past – to contextualise and optimise perception. The incorporation of past stimulus information into perceptual processing has important consequences, shaping how we perceive external objects and events according to the context in which they are embedded in. Namely, perceptual history can bias perception in an attractive way, making a stimulus to appear more similar to its preceding one than it actually is. The nature and mechanisms of attractive perceptual history effects are however unclear, due in part to seemingly conflicting findings suggesting either that the bias is perceptual in nature, occurring in low-level sensory areas, or a cognitive effect based on decision-making. With PreVis, I will provide a new perspective on these effects, proposing and testing a novel hypothesis. Namely, instead of being uniquely based on past information as currently assumed, attractive perceptual history biases may entail an active predictive mechanism. In this scenario, the attractive bias would arise from a prediction based on past stimuli (rather than the past stimuli themselves) performed by high-level brain areas, and affect the processing of sensory information in lower-level areas. In PreVis, I will use psychophysical techniques coupled with electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to test this hypothesis and assess the neural signature and correlates of perceptual history and predictive processes. The innovative perspective of PreVis represents an important step forward from the current state of the art, and the project has the potential to clarify the nature of perceptual history effects and the mechanisms involved in this fundamental process shaping perception.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1348 LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
Belgium
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