Visual Cognition

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The training program in Visual Cognition is based on the beliefs that vision is central to the understanding of the mind, and that it can now only be studied in a way that integrates knowledge and methods from many traditional disciplines (cognitive psychology, psychophysics, neuroscience, neuropsychology, computer vision). This requires new generations of scientists whose training encompasses all these disciplines. MIT is a perfect site for such a program because of its long history of accomplishments in vision science (both research and training), the unusual composition of the department (experimental psychology, computation, and neuroscience), and its experience and infrastructure for an interdisciplinary training program contributed by the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. The program has provided predoctoral students with core courses in cognitive science and neuroscience, extensive research experience, oral and written qualifying exams, lecture courses and research seminars, experience and training in undergraduate teaching, close oversight of progress, repeated oral presentations, and immersion in a peer culture of students and fellows interested in visual cognition. Now is a crucial time for the renewal of this training grant because of the great expansion in vision research we expect in our department over the next few years, resulting from the increased access to brain imaging equipment at the new MIT-MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, and from the numerous new hires expected in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research (of which the PI is a member), several of whom are likely to work on high-level vision.