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perception

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An artist’s conception of how sensory signals from the eye are map onto the brain in a slightly distorted way.
Quantized Columns

The Brain Reshapes Our Malleable Senses to Fit the World

By Richard Masland
March 24, 2020
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How does experience alter our perceptions? This adapted book excerpt from We Know It When We See It describes how the brain’s visual system rewires itself to make the best use of its neural resources.

Illustration of a woman with “hands” behind her eyes and “eyes” in her hands, showing how the brain integrates its sense of the world with the actions to be taken in response.
neuroscience

‘Noise’ in the Brain Encodes Surprisingly Important Signals

By Jordana Cepelewicz
November 7, 2019
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Activity in the visual cortex and other sensory areas is dominated by signals about body movements, down to little tics and twitches. Scientists are now rethinking how they study and conceive of perception.

A fractal pattern.
neuroscience

A Power Law Keeps the Brain’s Perceptions Balanced

By Jordana Cepelewicz
October 22, 2019
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Researchers have discovered a surprising mathematical relationship in the brain’s representations of sensory information, with possible applications to AI research.

An osprey flying low over a river holds a trout in its claws.
Abstractions blog

Your Brain Chooses What to Let You See

By Jordana Cepelewicz
September 30, 2019
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Beneath our awareness, the brain lets certain kinds of stimuli automatically capture our attention by lowering the priority of the rest.

The illustration shows ghostly hands partially obstructing a person’s sight and hearing.
neuroscience

To Pay Attention, the Brain Uses Filters, Not a Spotlight

By Jordana Cepelewicz
September 24, 2019
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A brain circuit that suppresses distracting sensory information holds important clues about attention and other cognitive processes.


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