CHBH Seminar Series: Prof Clare Press | The interdependence of learning and perception

This seminar is free to attend and is open to all, both within and outside the University. If you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, please register your interest to attend via the Zoom portal using the link above. Exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email.

We are delighted to announce that the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH) will welcome Professor Clare Press, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Lab Lead at the Action and Perception Lab, Birkbeck, University of London and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (University College London),  to present a hybrid CHBH Seminar, taking place on Thursday, 26th January, 13:00-14:00. Attendance is possible either in person (exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email), or online via Zoom, if you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, please register your interest to attend via the Zoom portal using the link above. Exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email. 

Prof Press' Twitter handle is @ClarePress and she can be contacted on c.press@ucl.ac.uk / c.press@bbk.ac.uk.

The hour after the seminar, 14:00-15:00, is reserved for optional informal discussion with the speaker and host, all are welcome to attend.

To arrange a 1:1 meeting with speaker, please contact us if you wish to meet them in person, or state your interest when registering to attend online for the seminar via the link above.

CHBH Event Host
Professor Ole Jensen

The interdependence of learning and perception

Abstract

It has long been appreciated that learnt statistical regularities shape perception. For instance, knowledge that I am more likely to see a polar bear than elephant in the arctic alters what I report seeing. However, it is less clear how learning shapes perception – especially when considering that it should do so in a way that renders perception both accurate and useful for future learning. I will present ongoing psychophysics and 3T/7T fMRI work that seeks to overcome an apparent paradox concerning the nature of this dynamic relationship, as well as the role of action in this mechanistic web. I will end by discussing recent endeavours to improve theorising in the cognitive sciences more broadly.

Speaker Biography

Clare started her research career as a research assistant with Patrick Haggard at UCL, studying vision and touch integration, before undertaking a PhD with Cecilia Heyes examining visual-motor integration. She subsequently embarked on three MRC and ESRC fellowships – one again with Celia, one with Martin Eimer, and the final with James Kilner and Karl Friston. She has been based as faculty at Birkbeck for a decade now, and was last year made a full professor. She has also recently been appointed as a principal investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL.

This seminar is free to attend and is open to all, both within and outside the University. If you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, please register your interest to attend via the Zoom portal using the link above. Exact location details will be shared prior to the event via email.