Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Hindsight Biases

Hindsight Biases

Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

Visual Agnosia

Visual Agnosia

Visual agnosia is a condition characterized by the inability to recognize visually presented objects despite having normal vision. For instance, a person with visual agnosia can describe the shape and color of an object but cannot identify or name it. This impairment does not affect their visual field, acuity, color vision, brightness discrimination, language, or memory. An example of this condition in a social setting is someone at a dinner party asking for "that silver thing with a round...

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Reassessing Choice Probability: What 59 Macaque Studies Tell Us About Decision-Related Activity in Visual Cortex.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

A novel behavioral paradigm using mice to study predictive postural control.

Frontiers in neuroscience·2026

Same author

AAV NRF2 gene therapy preserves retinal structure and function in rodent models of oxidative damage.

Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy·2026

Same author

AAV NRF2 gene therapy preserves retinal structure and function in rodent models of oxidative damage.

Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy·2026

Same author

Brain feature maps reveal progressive animal-feature representations in the ventral stream.

Science advances·2025

Same author

Stop Fooling Yourself! (Diagnosing and Treating Confirmation Bias).

eNeuro·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Illusions, Delusions, and Your Backwards Bayesian Brain: A Biased Visual Perspective.

Richard T Born¹, Gianluca M Bencomo²

¹Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Brain, Behavior and Evolution

|March 30, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The visual system uses Bayesian inference to interpret retinal images, but this can lead to errors. Dopamine may link these inference processes to schizophrenia symptoms.

Keywords:

Cerebral cortex Dopamine Neuromodulators Schizophrenia Sensory systems Vision

More Related Videos

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Published on: May 23, 2019

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Published on: May 23, 2019

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Vision
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

Retinal images are ambiguous, requiring the brain to infer real-world causes.
Prior knowledge, innate or learned, is essential for visual perception.
The visual system infers likely external causes from sensory data and prior knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

To present a framework of hierarchical Bayesian inference in vision.
To explore the role of cortico-cortical feedback in visual processing.
To argue that Bayesian inference contributes to perceptual errors and links to schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

Describing a general framework of hierarchical Bayesian inference.
Reviewing existing research on cortico-cortical feedback in the visual system.
Proposing a link between Bayesian inference, dopamine, and schizophrenia.

Main Results:

Hierarchical Bayesian inference is a general framework for understanding visual perception.
This inferential approach can lead to various perceptual errors.
Dopamine may be a key neuromodulator connecting Bayesian inference to schizophrenia.

Conclusions:

Visual perception relies on hierarchical Bayesian inference, integrating sensory data with prior knowledge.
The inferential nature of vision makes it susceptible to systematic errors.
Dopamine's role in Bayesian inference may explain perceptual anomalies in schizophrenia.