Welcome

Focus:
We are using brain imaging techniques to investigate how sensory information is integrated to conscious perception, and how conscious perception alters future processing of sensory information.

Example:
Two blinking squares can be integrated perceptually into the illusion of one moving object (apparent motion). After the first appearance of both blinking squares the perception of motion is postdicted (the later presented object changes the interpretation of the first one) but after several cycles of apparent motion the visual system starts to represent the illusion in real-time - it predicts future events .

Postdiction and prediction are two examples for constructive brain processes. The brain processes underlying the conscious perception of apparent motion have been studied with various brain imaging techniques.

In the animation below you can see how the two blinking squares are first processed at two different places in Area V1 (white line demarcates V1, activation is shown in orange). As soon as both stimuli are combined to the illusion of motion Area V5 (seen here at the left occipital temporal junction) becomes more activated. In experiments using bistable vision we have shown that activation of area V5 is tightly correlated with the conscious percept of motion (Muckli et al. 2002, JNS). In more recent studies we have shown that the illusion induces also activation along the apparent motion trace in V1 (Muckli et al. 2005, PLoS-Biology).

Scope:
We have studied integration of subsystem information in various projects including: multi-sensory (audio-visual) integration, visual motion processing (apparent motion, transparent motion, structure from motion), spatial imagery, visual short term memory, and visual impairment. More details are given in the respective subsections

CCNi:
The construction of the Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging (CCNi) is almost completed now. The new Siemens 3T TimTrio system is installed and we obtained first images (LINK) The CCNi will be fully equipped with state of the art imaging machines including High Resolution 4D-MEG, TMS, and MR-compatible EEG. The CCNi is attached to the 5*-ranked Psychology Department of the University of Glasgow (RAE 2002).

MyLab:
In this nice scientific environment I am currently setting up my new lab. Please contact me, if you you are interested in joining my group and check for postings. I am hoping to have a Post Doc position to fill later this year. Please check for fundings.

under construction:
I am sorry, this homepage is still under construction and it will remain somewhat provisional for some time.

web counter:

change to different presentation format: http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~lars/simple

Previously, I have been at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt am Main for some more than ten years. I have conducted functional brain imaging research on apparent motion, visual motion illusions, subsystem integration and visual deficiencies. I followed the question of how sensory information is processed in parallel, distributed, and specialized brain regions and where and how this distributed information is integrated into coherent perceptual states and used for cognitive tasks like short term memory, mental tracking, and spatial imagery.

Here, you will find an overview of my research interests and developments in my new  lab.

My new affiliation is the

Dr. Lars Muckli / Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow, Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (http://www.ccni.gla.ac.uk/), 58 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QB; lars<at>psy.gla.ac.uk; +44 -(0)141-330 6237