The interaction of visual and motivational salience in natural-scene perception

Planned research

Project B1 uses psychophysics, eye tracking, neuroimaging and pharmacological intervention to study the interaction of motivational and visual factors in guiding attention and learning about categories and rewards. Specific emphasis is given to naturalistic settings, both in terms of stimuli and tasks. B1 addresses the fundamental questions of how valuation flexibly guides perception and category formation and how perceptual and attentional mechanisms interact with value to optimize behavior. 

Current research

Project B1 investigates the bi-directional coupling between perception and valuation in natural scene processing. Part of the project aims at understanding the interplay between visual and motivational salience in guiding attention and thereby shaping perception. The other part focuses on the influence of visual salience on motivational learning and decision making. B1 addresses the fundamental questions of how valuation influences perception, how perceptual mechanisms shape the acquisition of motivational value, and how perceptual, attentional and motivational networks interact to adapt to an ever-changing environment.