Behavioral and neuroimaging investigations of perception and action with real-world objects

视觉系统使我们能够在现实世界中识别物体并对其采取行动。然而，令人惊讶的是，几乎所有关于人类视觉的行为和神经成像实验都使用了物体的图片，而不是真实的物理物体。有一些重要的理论理由可以证明，视觉系统处理图像和物体的方式是不同的，其中最重要的一点是，真实的物体提供动作。毕竟，人们永远不会试图用锤子的照片来敲钉子！事实上，我们最近的nserc资助的实验已经发现了对真实物体和照片的行为和神经反应的差异。****我研究的长期目标是了解真实的物体和真实的动作是如何在人类的大脑和思想中处理的。未来五年的短期目标是：(1)进一步确定真实物体与图像的区别；(2)确定为什么对真实物体和动作的处理不同。该项目将调查三个主题，并为年轻研究人员提供培训，特别是那些参加三所加拿大大学和两所德国大学之间的国际培训计划（NSERC CREATE-IRTG）的研究人员。****第一行研究将调查为什么真实物体的处理方式与图像（尤其是照片）不同。两种最有可能的解释是：(1)因为真实的物体有深度；第二，因为人们可以对真实的物体采取行动，而这些行动会产生后果。****研究的第二条线将调查我们如何通过使用真实的物体来感知物体，我们可以学到什么新东西。真实的物体在大小和距离之间有合理的关系（不像照片，一辆车可以和一只猫一样大），从不同的角度来看是不同的（不像照片，它只显示一个视角），并且可以改变（不像照片，在照片中物体是不移动的）。由于这些差异，我们预测使用真实物体将帮助我们更好地理解大小、视点和运动在物体识别中的作用。****第三条研究线将调查我们在更现实的情况下如何对物体进行手部动作可以学到什么新东西。我们将研究真实，虚拟和照片对象的抓取差异，以及如果您直接看到对象（没有镜子）并看到自己的手移动是否重要。此外，我们将调查如何行动是用来拦截移动的物体，以及这种技能是否与经验调制，例如在杂耍者。****我们的工作将使用最先进的行为和神经成像技术来了解真实物体如何影响视觉感知和行动以及相关的大脑区域。这个研究方向有可能使大脑和行为的研究更接近日常生活，并使其与现实世界的应用（如神经假肢）和科学技术中虚拟现实的新兴可能性更相关

The visual system enables us to recognize objects and to act upon them in the real world. Surprisingly, however, almost all behavioral and neuroimaging experiments of human vision have employed pictures of objects rather than real, physical objects. There are important theoretical reasons to expect that the visual system processes images and objects differently, not least of which is that real objects afford actions. After all, one would never attempt to pound a nail with a photo of a hammer! Indeed, our recent NSERC-funded experiments have found differences in the behavioral and neural responses to real objects vs. photos. ****The long-term goal of my research is to understand how real objects and real actions are processed in the human brain and mind. The short-term goals over the next five years are (1) to further determine how real objects differ from images; and (2) to determine why the processing of real objects and actions differs. The project will investigate three themes and provide training for young investigators, particularly those participating in an international training program (NSERC CREATE-IRTG) between three Canadian universities and two German universities.****The first line of research will investigate why real objects are processed differently from images (especially photos). The two most likely explanations are (1) because real objects have depth; and (2) because real objects can be acted upon and those actions have consequences.****The second line of research will investigate what new things we can learn about how we perceive objects by using real objects. Real objects have sensible relationships between size and distance (unlike photos, where a car can be the same size as a cat), look different from different viewpoints (unlike photos, which show a single viewpoint), and can change (unlike photos, in which items do not move). Due to these differences, we predict that using real objects will help us better understand the role of size, viewpoint, and motion in object recognition.****The third line of research will investigate what new things we can learn about how we perform hand actions toward objects under more realistic situations. We will investigate how grasping differs for real, virtual and photo objects and whether it matters if you see the object directly (without mirrors) and see your own hand move. In addition, we will investigate how actions are used to intercept moving objects and whether this skill is modulated with experience, for example in jugglers.****Our work will use state-of-the-art behavioral and neuroimaging techniques to understand how real objects affect visual perception and action and the brain areas involved. This research direction has the potential to bring research in brain and behavior closer to everyday life and make it more relevant for real-world applications (such as neural prosthetics) and the emerging possibilities of virtual reality in science and technology.**