Every illusion has a backstage crew. New research shows the brain’s own “puppet strings”—special neurons that quietly tug our perception—help us see edges and shapes that don’t actually exist. When ...

The visual cortex is the part of the brain that enables visual perception. In this area millions of nerve cells, called neurons, process stimuli from the outside world. They only react when objects ...

Vision shapes behavior and, a new study by MIT neuroscientists finds, behavior and internal states shape vision. The research, published Nov. 25 in Neuron, finds in mice that via specific circuits, ...

In the brain, visual information is processed step by step along a hierarchy of regions. The primary visual cortex (V1) is the first cortical stage that receives visual input from the eyes and is ...

Perhaps our most defining characteristic as a species, the six-layered human cortex, hosts billions of neural connections that bestow Homo sapiens with higher-order thinking. But how does this ...

New ultra–high-field brain scans reveal hidden body maps inside the visual system, showing how the brain weaves sight and touch together to build a unified sense of perception. Study: Vicarious body ...