Traditionally, individual modules of visual systems, such as perception of form, motion, and color have been studied separately. Increasingly, however, it is being appreciated that such visual functions are closely tied to other modules in the brain underlying learning, memory, and decision-making. For example, representation of the visual system is plastic and shaped by experience. In addition, although early visual pathway is characterized by its massive parallelism, the capacity of its working memory representation is severely limited, as dramatically demonstrated by the phenomenon of change blindness. Therefore, our understanding of visual functions must be complemented by studies of their relationship with working memory. Finally, the process of decision-making is a key to understanding how the sensory inputs are converted to behavioral responses. We propose to hold a Symposium at the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester in June, 2004, on the topic of Adaptive Representation and Control in Vision. The goal of the symposium is to facilitate the interactions among vision scientists and researchers of cognitive processes closely related to vision, such as perceptual learning, working memory, decision-making, and cortico-cortical interactions. In the tradition of past CVS Symposia, we will bring recent developments in these fundamentally important topics to a broader audience than that captured by more specialized meetings. We also wish to bring together speakers from a wide variety of areas in order to promote interactions between groups of investigators from diverse areas. This symposium will provide an exciting vehicle for students and investigators in vision and cognitive sciences to discuss and debate the values of various new paradigms in these rapidly expanding areas of research.
