Brain story. Part 3, The mind's eye.

Prof. Susan Greenfield (Univ. of Oxford) turns to recognition problems to begin her study of perception and the brain. Recognition transforms seeing into understanding. A man injured in a car crash is unable to recognise faces, a frightening and isolating experience, although he can recognise objects. Other studies show that the brain separates objects from faces, for which it employs a finer processing method. Over 30 areas of the brain are involved in vision. Vision is not a one-way system; it involves a 2-way flow of information and experiments demonstrate that much of what we see is actually supplied from memory. Expectation influences perception. Among those taking part in the programme are Prof. Josef Zihl (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry) and Dr. Marlene Behrmann (Carnegie Mellon Institute).