Stephen Engel
Psychology

     My work combines behavioral measurements and functional MRI.  One main topic under investigation is perceptual learning. With training, the adult human visual system can improve dramatically in almost any task. Radiologists, for example, can see patterns in x-ray images that are invisible to the untrained eye. One current study in the lab is investigating the changes in the brain that underlie this expertise. Other studies examine training on simpler tasks, such as detecting the presence of a very faint line on an otherwise blank screen. Training these simple tasks has allowed us to measure changes in some of the earliest stages of vision in the cortex, regions that were once viewed as lacking plasticity in the adult.

• EngelS.A. (2005). Adaptation of oriented and unoriented color-selective neurons in    human visual areas. Neuron 45, 613-23.
  
  
• Furmanski,C.S, Schluppeck, D., & Engel, S.A. (2004) Learning Strengthens The    Response of Primary Visual Cortex to Simple Patterns.  Current Biology 14,    573-578

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