Ph.D., Brown University
Associate Professor
Department of Neuroscience
572 Sidney Frank Hall of Life Sciences
Tel: (401) 863-9575
Email: David_Sheinberg@Brown.edu
Go to lab web page

The ease with which we see the world belies the difficulty of everyday vision. Our research is aimed at better understanding how single neurons and networks of neurons work together to efficiently select, process, and recognize objects even in cluttered environments. Our approach combines behavioral and neurophysiological techniques in behaving primates, and at present our focus is on the properties of neurons in the inferior temporal cortex. These cells are known to respond reliably to visually complicated patterns. By carefully studying the activity of these cells in unconstrained viewing conditions, where the eyes are free to explore the world naturally, we can begin to understand the role these cells play in active visual processes, wherein rapidly acquired sensory data directs visually guided action. By combining behavioral and electrophysiological methods we can investigate the potential contribution of individual neurons to perceptual processing on a spatio-temporal scale that is unattainable using other techniques. A second area of interest is how visual selectivity of these high-order neurons develops as a function of experience. To what extent are the properties of these cells plastic, even in adults? Can we alter their properties through controlled visual experience? To address this question, we use multiple chronic recording electrodes, making it possible to track the activity of small populations of cells over weeks and months. By focusing on the properties of cells that may subserve higher order visual processes like recognition, our research also addresses more fundamental questions in neuroscience, such as how neurons interact and the nature of neural coding.

Anderson B & Sheinberg DL (in press). Effects of temporal context and temporal expectancy on neural activity in inferior temporal cortex, Neuropsychologia.

Anderson B, Mruczek REB, Kawasaki K & Sheinberg DL (in press). Effects of familiarity on neural activity in monkey inferior temporal lobe, Cereb Cortex

Mruczek REB & Sheinberg DL Context familiarity enhances target processing by inferior temporal cortex neurons. J Neurosci. 27, 8533-8545.

Mruczek REB & Sheinberg DL (2007). Activity of inferior temporal cortical neurons predicts recognition choice behavior and recognition time during visual search. J Neurosci, 27, 2825-2836.

Peissig JJ, Singer J, Kawasaki K & Sheinberg DL (2007). Effects of long-term object familiarity on event-related potentials in the monkey. Cereb Cortex, 17, 1323-1334.

Anderson B, Sanderson MI & Sheinberg DL (2007). Joint decoding of visual stimuli by IT neurons'  spike counts is not improved by simultaneous recording. Exp Brain Res, 176, 1-11.

Sheinberg DL, Peissig JJ, Kawasaki K & Mruczek REB (2006). Initial saccades predict manual recognition choices in the monkey. Vision Res, 46, 3812-3822.

Scott LS, Tanaka JW, Sheinberg DL, Curran T (2006). A reevaluation of the electrophysiological correlates of expert object processing, J Cog Neurosci, 18, 1453-1465.

Anderson B, Harrison MT & Sheinberg DL (2006). A multielectrode study of the inferotemporal cortex in the monkey: effects of grouping on spike rates and synchrony. Neuroreport, 17, 407-411.

Anderson B, Peissig JJ, Singer J & Sheinberg DL (2006). XOR style tasks for testing visual object processing in monkeys. Vision Res, 46, 1804-1815.

Singer J & Sheinberg DL (2006). Holistic processing unites face parts across time. Vision Res, 46, 1838-1847.

Amarasingham A, Chen TL, Geman S, Harrison MT & Sheinberg DL (2006). Spike count reliability and the Poisson hypothesis. J Neurosci, 26, 801-809. 

Mruczek REB & Sheinberg DL (2005). Distractor familiarity leads to more efficient search for complex stimuli. Perception and Psychophysics, 67, 1016-1031.

Tanaka J, Curran T, Sheinberg DL (2005). The training and transfer of real-world, perceptual expertise.  Psych Sci, 16,145-151.

Tse PU, Logothetis NK, & Sheinberg, DL (2004). The distribution of microsaccade directions need not reveal the location of attention. Psych Science.

Logothetis NK, Leopold DA, & Sheinberg DL (2003). Neural mechanisms of perceptual organization. In N. Osaka (Ed.) Neural basis of consciousness. Advances in Consciousness Research: Vol. 49 (pp. 87-103). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Tse PU, Sheinberg DL, Logothetis NK (2003) Attentional enhancement opposite a peripheral flash revealed by change blindness. Psych Sci, 14, 91-99.

Sheinberg DL, Logothetis NK (2002) Perceptual learning and the development of complex visual representations in temporal cortical neurons. In M. Fahle and T. Poggio (Eds.), Perceptual Learning, MIT Press, 95-124.

Tse PU, Sheinberg DL, Logothetis N.K. (2002) Fixational eye movements are not affected by abrupt onsets in the periphery. Vision Res, 42, 1663-1669.

Sheinberg DL, Logothetis NK (2001) Noticing familiar objects in real world scenes: The role of temporal cortical neurons in natural vision, Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 1340-1350.

For more publications please visit the Sheinberg Lab web page