Beyond identification: the neural mechanisms responsible for remembering the images that we have seen
Description
Under the right conditions, our ability to remember whether we have encountered a particular object or scene before is remarkable - we can make these determinations after viewing tens of thousands of images, each only once, and we store these memories with exceptional visual detail. However, the neural processes that support single-exposure visual familiarity memory are poorly understood. I will describe a series of experiments designed to determine the neural correlates of single-exposure visual memory judgements in high-level visual cortex, and I will discuss how the brain manages to maintain perceptual stability in the presence of such rapid plasticity.
Speaker Bio
Nicole Rust is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and a member of the Computational Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. Research in her laboratory is focused on understanding the neural basis of visual memory, including our remarkable ability to remember the objects and scenes that we have encountered, even after viewing thousands and each only for few seconds. To understand where and how visual memories are stored in the brain, her lab employs a number of different approaches, including investigations of human and animal visual memory behaviors, measurements and manipulations of neural activity, and computational modeling. She has received a number of awards for both research and teaching including a McKnight Scholar award, an NSF CAREER award, a Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the Charles Ludwig Distinguished teaching award. Her research is currently funded by the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain.
Additional Info
The MIT Colloquium on the Brain and Cognition is a lecture series held weekly during the academic year and features a wide array of speakers from all areas of neuroscience and cognitive science research. The social teas that follow these colloquia bring together students, staff, and faculty to discuss the talk, as well as other research activities within Building 46, at MIT, and around the world. This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT. Colloquia are open to the community, and are held in MIT's Building 46, Room 3002 (Singleton Auditorium) at 4:00PM with a reception to follow.