Even though we experience a rich and detailed visual world, we actually perceive and remember only a small subset of the available information. What limits the bandwidth of visual cognition? To answer this question, I work at multiple levels of analysis and explore this topic from a cognitive neuroscience, psychological, and theoretical perspective.
Theoretical foundations of perceptual awareness.
Why are some bits of information in the visual system consciously perceived while other bits remain unconscious? What differentiates conscious and unconscious processing? Is attention necessary or sufficient for visual awareness? How can we characterize visual awareness?
What is the true capacity of visual cognition? Cohen. Trends Cogn Sci (2019)
What is the bandwidth of perceptual experience? Cohen et al. Trends Cogn Sci (2016)
The attentional requirements of consciousness. Cohen et al. Trends Cogn Sci (2012)
Consciousness cannot be separated from function. Cohen & Dennett. Trends Cogn Sci (2011)
Natural-scene perception requires attention. Cohen et al., Psych Science (2011).
Why are some bits of information in the visual system consciously perceived while other bits remain unconscious? What differentiates conscious and unconscious processing? Is attention necessary or sufficient for visual awareness? How can we characterize visual awareness?
What is the true capacity of visual cognition? Cohen. Trends Cogn Sci (2019)
What is the bandwidth of perceptual experience? Cohen et al. Trends Cogn Sci (2016)
The attentional requirements of consciousness. Cohen et al. Trends Cogn Sci (2012)
Consciousness cannot be separated from function. Cohen & Dennett. Trends Cogn Sci (2011)
Natural-scene perception requires attention. Cohen et al., Psych Science (2011).
Characterizing the bandwidth of perceptual awareness
What is the capacity and resolution of perceptual experience? How much information do we perceive in the world around us? What are the neural mechanisms that differentiate subconscious from conscious processing? To answer these questions, I use a combination of psychophysics, computational imaging, and neuroimaging.
The limits of color awareness during active, real-world vision. Cohen et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2020)
Distinguishing the neural correlates of perceptual awareness and post-perceptual processing. Cohen et al. J Neurosci (2020)
How much color do we see in the blink of an eye? Cohen and Rubenstein. Cognition (2020)
Characterizing a snapshot of perceptual experience. Cohen et al. J Exp Psychol: General (in press)
How does neural organization limit perceptual abilities?
How does the functional organization of the visual system, specifically higher-level visual cortex relate to behavior?
Recently, I found that the functional organization of higher-level visual cortex imposes powerful constraints on the capacity of visual working memory, perception, and awareness.
Perceptual processing of object categories is linked to a widespread
representational structure across high-level visual cortex.
Cohen et al. J Neurophys (2017)
Limits on perceptual encoding can be predicted from known receptive field properties of human visual cortex. Cohen et al. J Exp Psychol: Hum Percept Perf (2016)
Visual awareness is limited by the representational architecture of the visual system. Cohen et al. J Cog Neuro (2015)
Processing multiple visual items is limited by overlap in neural channels. Cohen et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2014).