Fiser J., Scholl BJ. & Aslin RN. (2007) Perceived object trajectories during occlusion constrain visual statistical learning. Psychonomic bulletin & review 14 (1), 173-178
Visual statistical learning of shape sequences was examined in the context of occluded object trajectories. In a learning phase, participants viewed a sequence of moving shapes whose trajectories and speed profiles elicited either a bouncing or a streaming percept: The sequences consisted of a shape moving toward and then passing behind an occluder, after which […]
Orbán G., Fiser J., Aslin RN. & Lengyel M. (2008) Bayesian learning of visual chunks by human observers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (7), 2745-2750
Efficient and versatile processing of any hierarchically structured information requires a learning mechanism that combines lower-level features into higher-level chunks. We investigated this chunking mechanism in humans with a visual pattern-learning paradigm. We developed an ideal learner based on Bayesian model comparison that extracts and stores only those chunks of information that are minimally sufficient […]
Zito T., Wilbert N., Wiskott L. & Berkes P. (2009) Modular toolkit for data processing (MDP): a Python data processing framework. Frontiers in Neuroinformatics 2:8
Modular toolkit for Data Processing (MDP) is a data processing framework written in Python. From the user’s perspective, MDP is a collection of supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms and other data processing units that can be combined into data processing sequences and more complex feed-forward network architectures. Computations are performed efficiently in terms of speed […]
Berkes P., Turner RE. & Sahani M. (2009) A structured model of video reproduces primary visual cortical organisation, PLoS Computational Biology, 2009. 5(9): e1000495
The visual system must learn to infer the presence of objects and features in the world from the images it encounters, and as such it must, either implicitly or explicitly, model the way these elements interact to create the image. Do the response properties of cells in the mammalian visual system reflect this constraint? To […]
Fiser J. (2009) The other kind of perceptual learning. Learning & Perception 1 (1), 69-87
In the present review we discuss an extension of classical perceptual learning called the observational learning paradigm. We propose that studying the process how humans develop internal representation of their environment requires modifications of the original perceptual learning paradigm which lead to observational learning. We relate observational learning to other types of learning, mention some […]
Fiser J. (2009) Perceptual learning and representational learning in humans and animals. Learning & behavior 37 (2), 141-153
Traditionally, perceptual learning in humans and classical conditioning in animals have been considered as two very different research areas, with separate problems, paradigms, and explanations. However, a number of themes common to these fields of research emerge when they are approached from the more general concept of representational learning. To demonstrate this, I present results […]
Fiser J., Berkes P., Orbán G. & Lengyel M. (2010) Statistically optimal perception and learning: from behavior to neural representations. Trends in cognitive sciences 14 (3), 119-130 [Highly Cited Paper]
Human perception has recently been characterized as statistical inference based on noisy and ambiguous sensory inputs. Moreover, suitable neural representations of uncertainty have been identified that could underlie such probabilistic computations. In this review, we argue that learning an internal model of the sensory environment is another key aspect of the same statistical inference procedure […]
Roser ME., Fiser J., Aslin RN. & Gazzaniga MS. (2011) Right hemisphere dominance in visual statistical learning. Journal of cognitive neuroscience 23 (5), 1088-1099
Several studies report a right hemisphere (RH) advantage for visuo-spatial integration and a left hemisphere (LH) advantage for inferring conceptual knowledge from patterns of covariation. The present study examined hemispheric asymmetry in the implicit learning of new visual-feature combinations. A split-brain patient and normal control participants viewed multi-shape scenes presented in either the right or […]
Berkes P., Orbán G., Lengyel M. & Fiser J. (2011) Spontaneous cortical activity reveals hallmarks of an optimal internal model of the environment. Science 331 (6013), 83-87 [Highly Cited Paper]
The brain maintains internal models of its environment to interpret sensory inputs and to prepare actions. Although behavioral studies have demonstrated that these internal models are optimally adapted to the statistics of the environment, the neural underpinning of this adaptation is unknown. Using a Bayesian model of sensory cortical processing, we related stimulus-evoked and spontaneous […]
White B., Abbott LF. & Fiser J. (2012) Suppression of cortical neural variability is stimulus-and state-dependent. Journal of neurophysiology 108 (9), 2383-2392
Internally generated, spontaneous activity is ubiquitous in the cortex, yet it does not appear to have a significant negative impact on sensory processing. Various studies have found that stimulus onset reduces the variability of cortical responses, but the characteristics of this sup- pression remained unexplored. By recording multiunit activity from awake and anesthetized rats, we […]