My research investigates the interactions between selective attention, perception, memory and action. Investigative tools include behavioural measures, eye tracking and neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG and TMS). My current research focuses on (1) how our current percept is influenced by previous experience, (2) developing a theory of perceptual stability across saccadic eye movements based on the dynamic updating of object information across separate glances, (3) relationships between space, objects, selective attention and number, (4) theories of embodied cognition and active vision, (5) visual categorization and (6) links between neuroscience and the arts.

Work description

My research investigates the interactions between selective attention, perception, memory and action. Investigative tools include behavioural measures, eye tracking and neuroimaging (fMRI, EEG and TMS). My current research focuses on (1) how our current percept is influenced by previous experience, (2) developing a theory of perceptual stability across saccadic eye movements based on the dynamic updating of object information across separate glances, (3) relationships between space, objects, selective attention and number, (4) theories of embodied cognition and active vision, (5) visual categorization and (6) links between neuroscience and the arts.

David Melcher’s research areas and projects:

(1) How is our current perception influenced by previous experience?
     What we see can be influenced by immediate experience (priming and adaptation) and by context-based knowledge over a longer term. We have been exploring the ways that these mechanisms can make perception and action more effective, especially the tricks that improve performance without requiring the active recollection of memory (Melcher, Nature, 2001; Melcher, Journal of Vision, 2006; Tatler & Melcher, Perception, 2008). This research also examines the influence of subthreshold (invisible) stimuli on perception and action.

(2) Perceptual stability across body and eye movements
    Our recent experimental work has “resurrected” the idea that perception combines visual information across glances (Melcher & Morrone, Nature Neuroscience, 2003; Melcher, Current Biology, 2005; Melcher, Nature Neuroscience, 2007). Currently, we are developing and testing a model of how updating and “remapping” of visual information in the brain might occur.

(3) The relationship between space, objects, attention and number
    When faced with a complex scene, the brain selects only a few items for preferential perceptual processing and for guiding action. We are investigating the neural underpinnings of this selection process to find a common substrate across different tasks.

(4) Theories of embodied cognition and active vision
    The eye can serve as a channel to influence the other senses, the emotions and our body sense. We are exploring the implications of recent research on the powerful influences of visual images, and designing new experiments to characterize the “embodied eye.”
 
(5) Visual categorization
    The visual system has specialized mechanisms for detecting special features in the sensory stream. Current experiments investigate whether basic semantic categories might be related to relatively early detectors in visual processing.

(6) Neuroscience and the arts
    This research interest has several aspects. One focus is to use an experimental approach to test claims by artists and critics about what how a particular artefact influences the observer. Second, we are applying recent findings in cognitive neuroscience to classic problems in art history. Third, we are investigating the underpinnings of “aesthetic” responses to various types of stimuli.

Publications:

Melcher, D. (2007) Predictive re-mapping of visual features precedes saccadic eye movements. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 903-7.

Melcher, D. & Morrone, M.C. (2007) Trans-saccadic memory: building a stable world from glance to glance. In R. Van Gompel et al., Eye movement research: A window on mind and brain (Amsterdam: Elsevier).

Alais, D. & Melcher, D. (2007) Strength and coherence of binocular rivalry depends on shared stimulus complexity. Vision Research, 47, 269-79.

Tatler, B. & Melcher, D. (2007) Pictures in mind: Initial encoding of object properties varies with the realism of the scene stimulus. Perception, 36, 1715-29.

Melcher, D. (2006) Accumulation and persistence of memory for natural scenes, Journal of Vision, 6, 8-17.

Melcher, D. & Vidnyanszky, Z. (2006) Subthreshold features of visual objects: Unseen but not unbound, Vision Research, 46, 1863-1867.

Wade, N. & Melcher, D. (2006) Cave art interpretation I. Perception, 35, 577-80.

Melcher, D. & Wade, N. (2006) Cave art interpretation II. Perception, 35, 719-22.

Melcher, D. (2005) Spatiotopic transfer of visual form adaptation across saccadic eye movements. Current Biology, 15, 1745-1748.

Melcher, D., Papathomas, T.V. & Vidnyanszky, Z. (2005) Implicit attentional selection of bound visual features. Neuron, 46, 723-729.

Melcher, D. (2005) When the brain doesn’t see eye to eye. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9, 216-217.

In press:

Melcher, D. (2008) Selective attention and the active remapping of object features in trans-saccadic perception. Vision Research (Special Issue on Visual Attention).

Melcher, D. & Bacci, F. (2008) The visual system as a constraint on the survival and success of specific artworks. Spatial Vision (special issue on Vision and Art), in press.

Melcher, D. & Cavanagh, P. (2008) Pictorial cues in art and in visual perception. In F. Bacci & D. Melcher (Eds.) Art and the Senses, Oxford University Press.