Davida Teller (1938-2011) brought a rigorous mind and critical thinking to the fi eld of vision science. While the most widely known of Davida’s scientifi c contributions were in the areas of light adaptation, color vision, and infant vision, she also offered to the fi eld a provocative challenge with her writings on the topic of “linking propositions” in visual science. Following others of the time, like Brindley ( 1960 ) and Barlow ( 1972 ), Davida provided critical thinking about criteria for, and approaches to, drawing inferences linking psychophysical phenomena and perception with underlying neural mechanisms (Teller, 1980 , 1984 ; Teller & Pugh, 1983 ). This timeless topic only grows in importance as the technologies for measuring brain activity advance and multiply, and the need to apply indirect metrics of brain activity to the understanding of psychophysical and perceptual phenomena increases. It is surprisingly routine today to see claims being made regarding the neural underpinnings of sensory and cognitive phenomena without articulation or even acknowledgment of implicit linking assumptions. With this special issue, Linking Hypotheses in Visual Neuroscience , we seek to accomplish two goals. The fi rst goal is to honor Davida Teller and her scientifi c legacy; the second is to revisit this central challenge in visual neuroscience, re-evaluate the concepts articulated by Davida in the context of current knowledge, and stimulate thinking about a way forward.