Research Interests
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Attention
- Visual Perception
Research Description
At the most general level, my research program is aimed at identifying the cognitive processes and neural structures that enable and limit our visual representations of the world. For instance, I am interested in: what processes determine whether or not we are aware of a visual object or event, can report its presence, or can recall it later; what mechanisms constrain the number of items we can effectively process at the same time; how higher-level processes such as attention modulate activity in visual cortex; and, why some stimuli (e.g. natural scenes)are processed so quickly and with relatively little effort. We use a variety of approaches to address these questions, including functional magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral methods, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Education
Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley
Additional Campus Affiliations
Head, Psychology
Professor, Psychology
Professor, Neuroscience Program
Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
External Links
Recent Publications
Beck, D. M., Center, E. G., & Shao, Z. (2024). The Role of Real-World Statistical Regularities in Visual Perception. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 33(5), 317-324. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214241268083
Center, E. G., Federmeier, K. D., & Beck, D. M. (2024). The Brain’s Sensitivity to Real-world Statistical Regularity Does Not Require Full Attention. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 36(8), 1715-1740. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02181
Chong, L. L., & Beck, D. M. (2024). Real-world Statistical Regularity Impacts Inattentional Blindness. Consciousness and Cognition, 125, Article 103768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2024.103768
Deng, W., Federmeier, K. D., & Beck, D. M. (2024). Highly Memorable Images Are More Readily Perceived. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 153(6), 1415-1424. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001594
Knight, R. S., Chen, T., Center, E. G., Gratton, G., Fabiani, M., Savazzi, S., Mazzi, C., & Beck, D. M. (2024). Bypassing input to V1 in visual awareness: A TMS-EROS investigation. Neuropsychologia, 198, Article 108864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108864