Nikos K. Logothetis, Ph.D.
Neuroscience
The neural mechanisms of visual perception
Dr. Logothetis was recognized for his work on the neural basis of visual perception,
especially binary rivalry. His laboratory demonstrated that the perceptual alternations
during binocular rivalry (BR) are likely to have the same neural origin as those
experienced when viewing ambiguous figures, such as depth or figure-ground reversals.
By studying the neural events underlying the periods of awareness and phenomenal
suppression of a visual pattern during BR, it is possible to understand the neural
basis of perceptual multistability that, in turn, is known to reflect the neural
processes involved in grouping and image segmentation. Insights from these experiments
promise to improve our understanding of visual awareness.
Dr. Logothetis’ nomination was based on the following publications:
Logothetis NK, Pauls J, Poggio T."
Shape representation in the inferior temporal cortex of monkeys. ".Curr
Biol. 1995 May 1;5(5):552-63.
Leopold DA, Logothetis NK. "
Activity changes in early visual cortex reflect monkeys' percepts during binocular
rivalry. ". Nature. 1996 Feb 8;379(6565):549-53.
Logothetis NK, Leopold DA, Sheinberg DL. "
What is rivalling during binocular rivalry?". PLoS Genetics, 4(8):
e1000139.Nature. 1996 Apr 18;380(6575):621-4.