Questions about the ways that our bodies processes incoming visual, auditory, gustatory, somatosensory, proprioceptive, and pain (among others) information
17
votes
3answers
166 views
Why does the human visual system produce a bright patch after staring at a bright light source and looking away?
If a person looks at a bright light source, such as a light bulb or perhaps the sun for a period of time, and then looks away and closes their eyes, they typically see a bright patch in the shape of ...
12
votes
2answers
326 views
Do we understand the non-subjective mechanisms behind pleasure and pain?
If we are to view pleasure and pain as being essentially synonymous with the more mechanistic concept of reward and punishment (i.e. as a part of learning and motivation system) then do we understand ...
12
votes
1answer
237 views
What stimulus features determine the psychophysical power law exponent?
Following the work of Stanley Stevens, psychophysical functions of stimulus intensity are commonly assumed to follow power laws, as illustrated below:
This appears to be true for a wide variety of ...
11
votes
3answers
229 views
Is it possible for certain people to perceive colors differently?
What if someone perceives a color as 'red' when it is actually 'green'?
Since different people have preferences for different colors, and colors are perhaps constructed in the mind, is it possible ...
10
votes
1answer
235 views
Under what conditions does 60hz video produce visual artifacts?
There are some important thresholds of frame rate in video playback that effect whether or not animation appears fluid. This wikipedia page about Visible Frame Rate suggests that a framerate of 60 ...
10
votes
1answer
178 views
Sensory Immersion Research?
Sensory deprivation is a relatively common technique for medititation and general consciousness-exploration.
However, I'm more interested in sensory immersion. That is, deliberate overstimulation as ...
9
votes
1answer
142 views
Is there an effect of visual expertise on eye movements when examining an image?
In the following linked image, you can see the eye movement traces of a subject examining a bust of Nefertiti (I came across this image while reading the following blog).
When I was in grade ...
8
votes
2answers
163 views
What is the “static” in human vision called?
Sort of like a cheap digital Camera, the human eye has certain feedback that's perceived but doesn't actually exist in the real world; a little layer of Static that's especially noticeable in pitch ...
7
votes
2answers
251 views
What term describes people that cannot feel pain?
I remember a case study about a girl who could not feel pain due to lacking certain somatosensory receptors; she went on to burn herself on a radiator because she could not feel her flesh burning and ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Is Apple's iPhone Retina Display really accurate to human eye resolution?
Apple based their Retina Display on the following claim, as cited by Wikipedia:
The display has a contrast ratio of 800:1. The screen is marketed by Apple as the "Retina Display", based on the ...
7
votes
1answer
91 views
Under what circumstances does the brain devote resources to only the “when” of sensory events?
In a recent review article (Arnal & Giraud, 2012), the authors delve into changes in cortical oscillations which assist in predicting the causes of a sensory stimulus (the "what", via predictive ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
How do people visually recognize their own reflection?
I'm interested in how the brain processes and recognizes the image of the person's own face.
A bit of background:
A while ago I've developed an overlay-camera like app for iPhone that allows me to ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
What is the brain power devoted to vision and haptics?
I heard a talk by Vincent Hayward on the sense of touch as a multi-modal system, where he claimed that the brain power devoted to haptics is at least as big as the one devoted to vision. I have found ...
4
votes
1answer
104 views
How do we get used to smells?
How do we get used to smells?
For example, you walk into a room with a certain stench, but it seems no matter how strong it may be, spending enough time in the room will allow you to stop smelling ...
3
votes
0answers
28 views
What regulates the strength of motoric signals?
I've seen cognitive/roboter models where the input signals from the sensors are directly used as the signal for outgoing motoric control.
This doesn't make much sense, because obviously we're able ...
2
votes
0answers
33 views
How much information does the somatosensory system produce?
Are there any approximations of how many bits of information human somatosensory system produces? Especially mechano-receptors as measured in average number of bits per area of skin per second?
I've ...
1
vote
0answers
118 views
How many times can someone listen to a song before he/she stops enjoying it? [closed]
How many repetitions do we need to get tired of listening to a song over and over again? I want to know if some kind of average number of repetitions exisits.
Is there any research related to this ...
