Jackson will present two recent JASA papers. Then at 12:00, we will have a visit from Salvador Mascarenhas to tell us about the DEC's new PhD program.

Title and abstract TBA

Axelle, Giovanni, and Jackson will each give a preview of the presentation they are bringing to ARO.

Functional neuroimaging has given rise to tens of thousands of publications, but we remain far from a comprehensive understanding the neural basis of mental functions. I will argue that this arises from two fundamental flaws in the way that neuroimaging research has been done.

Although extensively studied since years through dissimilarity ratings experiments, the acoustical correlates of musical instruments timbre perception remain not fully understood and somewhat controversial. Whereas it’s now commonly accepted that spectral and temporal envelops correlate well with the two first dimensions of so-called perceptual timbre spaces, critical questions remain: is it relevant to look for global audio descriptors correlating with the higher order dimensions of timbre spaces? can human dissimilarity ratings be computed directly from acoustic representations?

Sensory augmentation seeks to non-invasively extend sensory functions using artificial sensors. In my talk, I present a new project that tests the spatial integration of a recently developed novel sensory augmentation device that indicates a perceivers head orientation relative to geomagnetic north. The new device ‘piggy-backs’ the output of a head-based electronic compass on lower-level sensory characteristics of distal auditory-directional cues using 3D sound.

Most of what we know about perception derives from experiments conducted on members of developed Western societies. Yet many additional insights can be gained by studying other cultures. Phenomena that are consistent across cultures likely reflect biological constraints on perception, whereas those that vary cross-culturally could represent effects of culture-specific experience. I will describe our experiments assessing aspects of music-related audition in remote populations in rural Bolivia.

Most of what we know about perception derives from experiments conducted on members of developed Western societies. Yet many additional insights can be gained by studying other cultures. Phenomena that are consistent across cultures likely reflect biological constraints on perception, whereas those that vary cross-culturally could represent effects of culture-specific experience. I will describe our experiments assessing aspects of music-related audition in remote populations in rural Bolivia.

Visual segmentation is a core function of biological vision, key to adaptive behavior in complex environments. Past studies with artificial stimuli have identified Gestalt principles of segmentation, e.g. grouping by proximity, similarity, and good continuation, and found that visual cortical neurons are sensitive to those cues. These strategies may reflect an optimization to the statistics of the natural environment. Yet, the processes
underlying human segmentation of natural images remain poorly understood.