The unlikelihood effect: When knowing more creates the perception of less.

People face increasingly detailed information related to a range of risky decisions. To aid individuals in thinking through such risks, various forms of policy and health messaging often enumerate their causes. Whereas some prior literature suggests that adding information about causes of an outcome increases its perceived likelihood, we identify a novel mechanism through which… Continue reading The unlikelihood effect: When knowing more creates the perception of less.

#Perception of invisible masked objects in early infancy

Recurrent loops in the visual cortex play a critical role in visual perception, which is likely not mediated by purely feed-forward pathways. However, the development of recurrent loops is poorly understood. The role of recurrent processing has been studied using visual backward masking, a perceptual phenomenon in which a visual stimulus is rendered invisible by… Continue reading #Perception of invisible masked objects in early infancy

Sustained representation of perspectival shape

Our experience of the world goes beyond the light reaching our eyes: Even when a coin is tilted in depth, we infer the circular shape it truly has, rather than the ellipse it projects. But do we ever escape the perspective from which we view the world? A centuries-old philosophical debate asks whether objects of… Continue reading Sustained representation of perspectival shape

Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials

Our brain continuously receives signals from the body and the environment. Although we are mostly unaware of internal bodily processes, such as our heartbeats, they can affect our perception. Here, we show two distinct ways in which the heartbeat modulates conscious perception. First, increased heartbeat-evoked neural activity before stimulation is followed by decreased somatosensory detection.… Continue reading Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials