Redrawing the lines between language and graphics

Graphic and verbal communication are typically thought to work in very different ways. While speech uses a conventionalized vocabulary that is acquired from children’s environments, drawing is assumed to reflect the articulation of how people see and think, with learning based on “artistic talent.” Yet, research from linguistics and cognitive science upends these assumptions, suggesting that these domains are actually not so distinctive.

Contextual effects, image statistics, and deep learning

Neural responses and perception of visual inputs strongly depend on the spatial context, i.e., what surrounds a given object or feature. I will discuss our work on developing a visual cortical model based on the hypothesis that neurons represent inputs in a coordinate system that is matched to the statistical structure of images in the natural environment. The model generalizes a nonlinear computation known as normalization, that is ubiquitous in neural processing, and can capture some spatial context effects in cortical neurons.

Individual Differences in Lifespan Cognitive Development

This is an exciting time for scientists who are interested in cognitive development: there is now a wealth of easily-accessible data that can be used to ask interesting questions about how psychological, neural, and genetic factors affect changes in cognitive functions across the lifespan - and how they differ between individuals. In this talk, I'll describe several studies that apply individual-differences methods to large-scale, sometimes longitudinal datasets that include cognitive and biological information.

Adios Corona, a group of scientists mobilised against disinformation

The website adioscorona.org brings together all the knowledge about the virus and the epidemic. Scientific advice, opinions and recommendations to protect yourself, understand and act against the Coronavirus. The website offers simple explanations of the scientific articles on the SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19. It is structured around a "Understanding Coronavirus" section and an "Acting in a Covid pandemic" section. The content is updated regularly, Adios corona's practical advice may change as new scientific data is generated.