Determinants and consequences of conscious visual awareness. Usually salient images can disappear from awareness without corresponding stimulus changes. This project is based on an innovative account linking such disappearances to a functional adaptation which facilitates vision in cluttered environments. Project completion will expand Australia's knowledge base, forge links between junior and senior Australian based investigators and provide excellent training opportunities. Publication of rese ....Determinants and consequences of conscious visual awareness. Usually salient images can disappear from awareness without corresponding stimulus changes. This project is based on an innovative account linking such disappearances to a functional adaptation which facilitates vision in cluttered environments. Project completion will expand Australia's knowledge base, forge links between junior and senior Australian based investigators and provide excellent training opportunities. Publication of research in top-ranking international journals will further promote Australian science abroad. Ultimately, this research will have implications for the design and implementation of artificial visual systems, which must overcome many of the same dilemmas faced by the human visual system in cluttered environments.Read moreRead less
Human Time Perception. Most human tasks require timing on a scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. We must judge time to produce and comprehend speech, to move about and interact with our dynamic environment, to determine causality and decode information from sensory receptors. However, the neural bases of time perception are largely unknown. This project will explore temporal phenomena to determine how and where durations, temporal order and coincidence are encoded in the human brain. Proje ....Human Time Perception. Most human tasks require timing on a scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. We must judge time to produce and comprehend speech, to move about and interact with our dynamic environment, to determine causality and decode information from sensory receptors. However, the neural bases of time perception are largely unknown. This project will explore temporal phenomena to determine how and where durations, temporal order and coincidence are encoded in the human brain. Project results will provide new insight into the mechanisms of time perception, with implications for disorders associated with impaired time perception, such as autism, dyslexia and schizophrenia.Read moreRead less
Signature pedagogies for creative collaboration: Lessons for and from music. This project aims to develop a model of the signature pedagogies and environmental supports that foster the 21st century skills of creativity, innovation, collaboration and cooperation. The project's significance lies in its unique focus on pedagogies of expert creative collaborative practice in four internationally renowned chamber music training environments. These are characterised by individual risk in performance, ....Signature pedagogies for creative collaboration: Lessons for and from music. This project aims to develop a model of the signature pedagogies and environmental supports that foster the 21st century skills of creativity, innovation, collaboration and cooperation. The project's significance lies in its unique focus on pedagogies of expert creative collaborative practice in four internationally renowned chamber music training environments. These are characterised by individual risk in performance, intensified need for collaborative exchange, and the capacity to juxtapose individual accountability within collaborative practices. Expected outcomes and benefits of the project include a model that has translational application and impact for those professions that rely on generating new knowledge in collaborative settings.Read moreRead less
Why does time seem to drag and fly? This project aims to investigate varying perceptions about the passage of time. It is unclear if these variations reflect functional adaptations that allow fast information processing in the face of disaster or if such sensations are inferred after the events in question. Nor is it clear if such experiences are similar across individuals. The project aims to answer these questions, with long-term potential to inform artificial intelligence systems that rely on ....Why does time seem to drag and fly? This project aims to investigate varying perceptions about the passage of time. It is unclear if these variations reflect functional adaptations that allow fast information processing in the face of disaster or if such sensations are inferred after the events in question. Nor is it clear if such experiences are similar across individuals. The project aims to answer these questions, with long-term potential to inform artificial intelligence systems that rely on temporal sensitivity. The project also has potential to provide insights into conditions associated with impaired time perception-place roles.Read moreRead less
Novel psychophysical paradigms for examining predictive coding in vision. Human vision is shaped by predictive signals in the brain. Despite a century of speculation, we do not know how this interplay is implemented - particularly during natural viewing. This project will establish and validate new psychophysical protocols for investigating predictive coding in human vision. Experiments will involve natural viewing and eye tracking, so results will generalize to real-life. Studies will seek to c ....Novel psychophysical paradigms for examining predictive coding in vision. Human vision is shaped by predictive signals in the brain. Despite a century of speculation, we do not know how this interplay is implemented - particularly during natural viewing. This project will establish and validate new psychophysical protocols for investigating predictive coding in human vision. Experiments will involve natural viewing and eye tracking, so results will generalize to real-life. Studies will seek to clarify how predictions are formed and signalled. This could inform future developments in artificial intelligence, as that cutting edge technology continues to be informed by our understanding of predictive coding in human vision.Read moreRead less
Controlling interactive music performance: enhancing live performances by human musicians and algorithmic computer systems. This project will investigate techniques for the control of computer music systems during performances with a musician. It will identify and evaluate parameters and patterns for expressive variation of music algorithms, contribute new theories of music representation, and provide insights into human interactions with semi-autonomous technologies.
Distorted Time Perceptions: Altered neural coding or decisional criteria? Human time perception is subject to systematic distortions. For instance, prolonged exposure to a movie wherein sounds lead the visual footage can result in this timing relationship seeming to be synchronous when it did not previously. As yet, it is unclear if such effects reflect altered neural processing times (in this example, visual analyses could be sped, or auditory analyses slowed), or if neural processing times are ....Distorted Time Perceptions: Altered neural coding or decisional criteria? Human time perception is subject to systematic distortions. For instance, prolonged exposure to a movie wherein sounds lead the visual footage can result in this timing relationship seeming to be synchronous when it did not previously. As yet, it is unclear if such effects reflect altered neural processing times (in this example, visual analyses could be sped, or auditory analyses slowed), or if neural processing times are unchanged, with people simply altering the decisions they make about sensory inputs. This project will determine which type of scenario is responsible for a number of distortions of human time perception. Read moreRead less
The initiation and control of action in motor vehicle driving. Every time we pull up to a traffic light or overtake another vehicle our brain is making a whole series of critical decisions about when and how to carry out the manoeuvre accurately and safely. This project seeks to better understand the processes involved. Using the latest, high fidelity GPS and accelerometer technology, highly accurate measurements of driver behaviour and vehicle dynamics will be made in a real vehicle. Understand ....The initiation and control of action in motor vehicle driving. Every time we pull up to a traffic light or overtake another vehicle our brain is making a whole series of critical decisions about when and how to carry out the manoeuvre accurately and safely. This project seeks to better understand the processes involved. Using the latest, high fidelity GPS and accelerometer technology, highly accurate measurements of driver behaviour and vehicle dynamics will be made in a real vehicle. Understanding when and how we carry out these types of basic tasks will play a central role in future brake, suspension and steering system design; will help guide the specifications of road and road sign design; and will help motivate additions or alterations to current driver training programmes.Read moreRead less
Revealing the beneficial effects of acoustic stimulation on the human brain. This project aims to provide greater understanding of the neural mechanisms by which initiation of motor responses can be improved by unexpected auditory stimulation. Initiating motor actions appears natural and effortless, but is underpinned by complex neural mechanisms that are not well understood. Using novel brain stimulation techniques, the project aims to assess the potential for properly timed strong sensory stim ....Revealing the beneficial effects of acoustic stimulation on the human brain. This project aims to provide greater understanding of the neural mechanisms by which initiation of motor responses can be improved by unexpected auditory stimulation. Initiating motor actions appears natural and effortless, but is underpinned by complex neural mechanisms that are not well understood. Using novel brain stimulation techniques, the project aims to assess the potential for properly timed strong sensory stimulation during movement preparation to induce neural plasticity and motor learning. This knowledge would have important implications across a number of fields, including neuroscience, sports science, and applied ergonomics.Read moreRead less
Neural mechanisms for human form perception. This project aims to determine if there is a single cortical mechanism underlying the human ability to discriminate and recognise objects. It has been speculated that different classes of objects, or forms require different processes. Demonstrating a single process would be a significant advance towards understanding the neural mechanisms giving rise to our ability to segment visual fields into meaningful objects and background. This research provides ....Neural mechanisms for human form perception. This project aims to determine if there is a single cortical mechanism underlying the human ability to discriminate and recognise objects. It has been speculated that different classes of objects, or forms require different processes. Demonstrating a single process would be a significant advance towards understanding the neural mechanisms giving rise to our ability to segment visual fields into meaningful objects and background. This research provides a means for testing models of the neural interactions thought to be generating human form perception and will help us discover how the visual cortex converts raw sensory input into object and form perception.Read moreRead less