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From eye to mind
Tuesday November 18th, 2008 , h.20,30What we see is not what actually exists in the outside world. Our perception goes beyond the physical characteristics of the stimulus, because we concentrate only on parts of the information coming from the senses and we interpret them based on the the context we place them in, the memories and the emotions we feel in that precise moment. Therefore, all of our perceptions, including the visual ones, are creative processes which depend both on the stimulus itself, presented in front of us, and on the mind looking at it. There are some perception rules which are so closely related to the world we involved in, that they become natural. For example, our brain considers granted the fact that the light comes from above, and hence, interprets the light effects and the shadows based on this condition. There are times that these rules are being violated, causing the brain to go off track, or as we say, to experience illusions.
But how is an image created? How do we reconstruct the faces of our beloved ones? Are there cells that "see" ? We will talk about all this and more with Giovanni Mirabella, neurophysiologist and Francesco Ferretti, philosopher, who will present their point of view on this fascinating problem that has been discussed since the beginning of times.
Francesco Ferretti
Francesco Ferretti is associate professor of Philosophy and Theory of Language at the University of Rome "Roma Tre".His research is about evolutionary and cognitive approaches at the study of language; the study of the mental representations (in particular the study of mental images); the analysis of the connection between perception and language; the study of language comprehension/production processes in the case of perceptual and cognitive deficits.
Among his latest publications you can find: Why are we special. Mind, language and human nature (Roma, Laterza, 2007); Communication and cognitive science (edited by D. Gambarara, Roma, Laterza, 2006); Cartographies of the Mind (edited by M. De Caro and M. Marraffa, Springer, Dordrecht, 2007).
Giovanni Mirabella
Giovanni Mirabella, graduated in Biology Sciences, obtained his PhD in Cognitive Neurosciences at the SISSA in Trieste and he is a researcher of the Human Physiology at the Motor Sciences Faculty in the University of L'Aquila.He studies the connection between the electrical activity of the cerebral neurons and the formulation of decisions. In the past he studied the neural basis of attention and of brain plasticity, or more precisely, the way in which the brain is altering itself under the effect of the experiences throughout its own existence.
He is very dedicated in contributing to the public understanding of science, collaborating with various scientific magazines (Le Scienze, Mente & Cervello, Il Venerd́ di Repubblica, Quark, Yahoo Salute) and publishing over 130 articles. Since 2007 he is a free lance journalist.
Bibli, 18-11-08
