Binocular Disparity and Mobile Eyes: Computational Modeling, Psychophysics and Neurophysiology

• Applicant: Kai Schreiber, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2003 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5410850

"I think stereo vision is one of the glories of nature and a paradigm of how other parts of the mind might work." (Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works, 1999) The enormous complexity of the human brain is the greatest challenge facing neuroscience. A fruitful approach has been to look at isolated subsystems of intermediate complexity. The eye movement system and binocular depth vision have both been very profitable model systems for motor behavior and perception respectively. The projects outlined in this research program will investigate the interaction between sensory and motor processes using these two systems, using perceptual experiments, neural imaging and computational modeling as tools. The results will illuminate the design principles and brain regions involved in the complex task of looking around to see the world in depth, as well as the mechanisms the brain employs in balancing the demands and constraints of perception and action. The results will also speak to otimization and design principles of interaction in neural systems. They will also have relevance for the common medical condition defined by the failure of senorimotor control, strabismus.

• DFG Programme: Emmy Noether International Fellowships
• Participating Person: Professor Clifton Schor, Ph.D.