NYSCF – Robertson Investigator Shows That Learning Impacts How the Brain Processes What We See
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NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Dr. Takaki Komiyama, University of California San Diego, published his breakthrough research showing that learning in mice impacts how their brains process what they see. This research, published in Nature Neuroscience, showed that the mouse visual cortex operation, or sight process center of the brain, significantly changed in operation based on top down processes during learning. Top-down referrs to learning beginning with thought, as opposed to bottom-up which begins with the senses.
The scientists showed that prior perceptions or knowledge of an object significantly affect perception in mice, supporting the long-held theory that the brain does not represent the environment as it stands, but rather attempts to predict it based on known information.