21.03.2012

Press Release: Seeing Movement

Why the world in our head stays still when we move our eyes

When observing a fly buzzing around the room and following it around with the eyes, we ought to have the impression that it is not the fly, but rather the space that lies behind it that is moving. After all, the fly is always fixed in our central point of view. But how does the brain convey the impression of a fly in motion in a motionless field? With the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scientists from the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have identified two areas of the brain that compare the movements of the eye with the visual movements cast onto the retina so as to correctly perceive objects in motion.

Organization:

• Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience
• Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics

Reseach Group: Vision and Cognition

Contact: Prof. Dr. Andreas Bartels

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