By: Leo van Hemmen (Editor), Jack Cowan (Editor), Eytan Domany (Editor)

Hardcover

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With no effort we scan a scene by directing our gaze at specific objects, discerning them individually despite the background of other objects, contours, shadows, and changes in illumination. The process is partially intentional, partially automatic, and entirely amazing: no machine can accomplish this, but the simplest insect can. A single glance captures megabytes of data; we reduce this flood by singling out specific objects for attention. This volume, with chapters by leading researchers in the field, is devoted to early vision and attention, that is, to the first stages of visual information processing. John Hertz, who has extensive experience in both computational and experimental neuroscience, provides a theoretical introduction to neural modeling. John Van Opstal explains how the gaze is controlled and presents a novel theory incorporating recent experimental results. Klaus Funke and his colleagues describe the anatomy, physiology, functional relations, and ensuing response properties of the first stages in visual information processing; they provide one of the most comprehensive reviews available at the moment. Reinhard Eckhorn explains the underlying principles of scene segmentation. Esther Peterhans and her coworkers analyze a model of figure-ground segregation and brightness perception at illusory contours. Ernst Niebur and his collaborators indicate how visual attention can be controlled; Julian Eggert and Leo van Hemmen elucidate the feedback mechanism proper. Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck and Bill Bialek show how insects process visual information with impressive efficiency. Finally, Wolfgang Maass describes paradigms for computing with spiking neurons from the point of view of a computer scientist.

Neurons, Networks, and Cognition: An Introduction to Neural Modeling
The Gaze Control System
Integrating Anatomy and Physiology of the Primary Visual Pathway: from LGN to Cortex
Neural Principles of Preattentive Scene Segmentation: Hints from Cortical Recordings, Related Models, and Perception
Figure-Ground Segregation and Brightness Perception at Illusory Contours: A Neuronal Model
Controlling the Focus of Visual Selective Attention
Activity-Gating Attentional Networks
Timing and Counting Precision in the Blowfly Visual System
Paradigms for Computing with Spiking Neurons
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9780387951058
ISBN-10: 0387951059
Series: Physics of Neural Networks
Audience: Professional
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 426
Published: 9th November 2001
Publisher: SPRINGER VERLAG GMBH
Dimensions (cm): 24.13 x 16.51  x 16.053
Weight (kg): 0.739