Cite as: The language of vision" Perception 32 ECVP Abstract Supplement
Cavanagh P, 2003, "The Perception LECTURE
The Perception LECTURE The language of vision
P Cavanagh
One role of visual attention is the construction of a visual narrative, a description of visual events in a language-like format. Recent work on the architecture of attention shows that it has simultaneous access to multiple selections, and luckily so, because other studies show that it is impossible to scrutinise the details within a single selection. As a result, the integration of elements, the derivation of their relations, and the actions they are engaged in is only possible by comparing information across multiple selections. The product of this cross-selection is a language-like description of the visual event that is then exported to other modules in the brain. A basic distinction immediately arises between objects ('nouns') that can be selected rapidly with a single operation, and actions ('verbs') that always require multiple selections. Results from parietal patients demonstrate a candidate case of syntax for motion and transient events.
[Supported by NIH EY09258.]
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