Neuropsychology of Vision

As we carry out our day-to-day activities, we are typically bombarded by vast amounts of visual information. Our brain is able to quickly and effectively combine visual input into coherent objects and scenes. While our attentional system facilitates our ability to perceive the world, it is limited in that we are not able to report on everything we see around us. Yet, even input we cannot report on can influence how we experience our visual environment as a whole. Insights into how we perceive the world around us can be gleaned by exploring visual illusions, in which susceptibility depends on grouping visual elements together to induce the illusion.

The ability to group discrete visual elements is crucial for forming a meaningful understanding of our visual world. This process becomes more complex when one interacts with the surrounding environment, as both visuomotor actions and visual perception are influenced by factors such as the amount of time visual information is made available to the visual system, the requirements of the visuomotor task being performed, and whether visual information is available to both or only one eye. Examining how these factors influence our perception and action streams will help contribute to a better understanding of how we attach meaning to our environment.