Nava Rubin

Visual perception and the neural basis of vision

I study human visual perception. My research is aimed at understanding the computations that transform the retinal image to the rich visual representations we experience, and the neural basis of these computations. The topics that I have concentrated on studying are scene segmentation, motion perception and perceptual learning. I combine psychophysical experiments, brain imaging (fMRI) and theoretical analysis to ask questions such as: what are the brain computations that give rise to the perceptual completion of occluded surfaces? How do we perceive objects moving and twisting in three-dimensional space when only their projected, two-dimensional image is given to us?
Another interest is perceptual bi-stability: given an ambiguous stimulus that can be interpreted in two (or more) distinct ways, perception switches in a seemingly-haphazard manner between the possible interpretations. In such 'rivalrous' situations, only one interpretation is perceived at any given time; I call this 'mutual exclusivity'. How does the brain enforce mutual exclusivity -- and why?!
More recently, I have become interested also in studying social cognition and its neural basis, in particular the representation of unconscious goals and their effect on behavior. Stay tuned for more on that front (or write to me if you may be interested in collaboration).

(Note: the address above is an image, not text, and you cannot click on it to send me email; you'll have to type it into your computer; this is done to prevent 'crawlers' from grabbing the address and use it for spam; sorry about the extra work it causes eveybody else..)

Select Publications

Ludmer, R., Dudai, Y. and Rubin, N. (2011), Uncovering Camouflage: amygdala activation predicts long-term memory of induced perceptual insight. Neuron 69, 1002-1014.

Moreno-Bote, R., Shpiro, A., Rinzel, J. and Rubin, N. (2010), Alternation rate in perceptual bistability is maximal at and symmetric around equi-dominance. Journal of Vision 10 (11), 1-18.

Vessel, E.A. and Rubin, N. (2010), Beauty and the beholder: Highly individual taste for abstract, but not real-world images. Journal of Vision 10 (2), 1-14.

Hasson, U., Yang, E., Vallines, I., Heeger, D. and Rubin, N. (2008), A hierarchy of temporal receptive windows in human cortex. J Neuroscience 28, 2539-50.

Moreno-Bote, R., Rinzel, J. and Rubin, N. (2007), Noise-induced alternations in an attractor network model of perceptual bi-stability. J Neurophysiol 98, 1125-39.

Rubin, N. and Hupe, J.M. (2004), Dynamics of perceptual bi-stability: plaids and binocular rivalry compared. In: Alais, D. and Blake, R. (Eds.), Binocular Rivalry , MIT Press.

Stanley, D.A. and Rubin, N. (2003), fMRI activation in response to illusory contours and salient regions in the human Lateral Occipital Complex. Neuron 37, 323-331.

Rubin, N., Nakayama, K. and Shapley, R. (2002), The role of insight in perceptual learning: evidence from illusory contour perception. In: Fahle, M. and Poggio, T. (Eds.), Perceptual Learning , MIT Press.

Rubin, N. (2001), The role of junctions in surface completion and contour matching. Perception 30, 339-366.

Rubin, N., Nakayama, K. and Shapley, R. (1996), Enhanced perception of illusory contours in the lower vs. upper visual hemifield. Science 271, 651-653.

Courses

• G80.3202.001 Brain Imaging
• Psychophysics and the Brain