• lv l
ADASS 2009 Sapporo, Japan

Different Displays forDifferent Brains
How Neurology of Vision Effects the Interpretation of Data
Matthew H. Schneps
Lincoln J. Greenhill
L. Todd Rose
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

• lv lalternate title...
astronomers who read slowly are quick to spot
black holes

National Science Foundation
supported by the NSF under
grant HRD-0726032

the human interface• lv lmassive data volumes require automateddetection algorithms
yet... all results need to interpreted... capacity for unanticipated discoveries arelimited by human sensory interface

neurology of vision is integral to astronomical
data processing

individual differences• lv lindividual differences in neurology will cause
detection thresholds to vary• lv lvisual abilities vary
V4filteringprocessing
V3
V2

primatebrain

not to scalemuscleslensretinaV1

LGN sorting
stationvision is a complex chainconcentric detector

Thibos, L. N. (2002). "V648 Neurophysiology of Vision."• lv l• lv lrods

Rodieck, R. W. (1998). The first steps in seeing.

separate systems• lv lretinotopic distinctions (center/periphery) maintained
throughout the visual cortex

Gattass et al. Cortical visual areas in monkeys: location, topography, connections, columns, plasticity and corticaldynamics. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci (2005) vol. 360 (1456) pp. 709-31

attention = filter+amp

Prof. N. Osaka
noted expert on attention and working memory• lv l• lv lreading uses onlya small part of
the available
visual field• lv l28 msflash

animal vs rock vs building
better than chance at 70°
Thorpe , et al (2001) “Detection of animals in natural images using far peripheral vision” European Journal of Neuroscience• lv lcentralvisual fieldprocesses
fine detail

Photo by Dan Duriscoe, U.S. National Park Service.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070508.html

• lv lbut fine features tell only one aspect of the story...

wide field cameras are valuable as well.
Photo by Dan Duriscoe, U.S. National Park Service.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070508.html“visual gist”

• lv ltrans-saccadic perception
holding
perception
acrosssaccades

Melcher & Colby, 2008, “Trans-saccadic perception” Trends in Cognitive Scienceshypothesis
attention reduces peripheral awarenessreading = attention
poor reading = poor attention

ergo:
astronomers who read poorly will have
ENHANCED peripheral awareness• lv lperipheral gist

• lv lability to perceive broad trends rapidly withminimal working memory or attention

dyslexia = sensitivity for gist?

• lv lhypothesis
do scientists with dyslexia have “talents” for someforms of visual processing?

• lv lare there scientists with dyslexia?
(what is dyslexia anyway?)• lv l“poor reading” = dyslexia
struggles reading/writing that are
SURPRISING and UNEXPECTED

dyslexia exists in some form in all languages
affects 5% - 20% (US/UK)
neurologicalhereditaryaffects visual attention and working memoryhistorical scientists
with dyslexia?

maxwellbohr einstein• lv leinstein’s brain

Witelson, Kigar, Harvey “The exceptional brain of Albert Einstein” Lancet 1999

• lv lbaruj
benaccerraf
nobel prize medicine

FINK, R. P. (2006). Why Jean and John Couldnʼt Read – And How They Learned. . International Reading
Association, Newark, Delaware.

incidence amongscientists• lv ldifficult to test
poorly definedsenior scientists not identified via schools

likely comparable to general population: 10% - 20%

NSF experiment• lv lopen call via AAS used to find likely
candidates
select respondents invited to CfA for testing
an experimental sample of 15 people wascreated (and controls)• lv lProfessional Astrophysicists with Dyslexia

7f 8m

5f 10m• lv lvisual differences
observed
many deficits – but also some advantages (!)

impossible figures• lv lpeople w/dyslexia are faster at solving thesevon Karolyi, Winner, et al. (2003). Brain and Language 85(3): 427-31.

anomaly detection
er
apmoc

is a high PCR task

• lv l• lv ldetectinglogical anomaly
a skill that is useful inscience and math!

• lv lperipheral letter
recognitiondw

vary eccentricity

very quick flash~15 msGeiger, G. and J. Y. Lettvin (1987). New England Journal of Medicine 316(20): 1238-1243.

• lv lGeiger, G. and J. Y. Lettvin (1987). New England Journal of Medicine 316(20): 1238-1243.

• lv lGeiger, G. and J. Y. Lettvin (1987). New England Journal of Medicine 316(20): 1238-1243.

• lv lsensitivity to rapid flash

Facoetti, A., P. Paganoni, et al. (2000).Experimental Brain Research 132(4): 531-538.

messy offices

spatial memory for object locations• lv lspatial learning

contextual cueing
Chun, M. M. and Y. Jiang (1998). Cognitive Psychology 36(1): 28-71.

• lv lspatial learning• lv lbetter accomplished using peripheral comparison
Brady, T. F. and M. M. Chun (2005). Journal of Vision 5(8): 860-860.

• lv la test of the hypothesis
are astrophysicists with dyslexia better at finding
black holes?

• lv lblack hole detection

• lv lblack hole detection

• lv ldo scientists with dyslexia have lower
thresholds for detection?

• lv lhypothesis
based on prior studies• lv lblack hole detection

• lv lPRESS to START
Double Peak+ NoiseRESPOND

Flash 1 sec

time

SIGNAL
YES/NO?

repeatincrease noise until
detection-threshold reached

black holedetection
task• lv lastrophysicists with dyslexia show
peripheral bias in black holes!

schneps, rose, greenhill, pomplun (2010) in preparation

• lv leyetracking
image processing
traces gaze direction
at 1000 Hz = 1 ms timing
nerve conduction = 10 ms
first stage vision = 60 ms
frontal lobe involvement = 200 ms

eye motions

dyslexia

typicalpoor fixation, atypical motions
Schneps,M.H. and Rose, L.T. (2008) prepublication results• lv lmicrosaccades

thought to play a role inperception: e.g. troxlerfading, oddball, illusory motion• lv lmicrosac. typical• lv lmsacs dyslexia/ADHD• lv lstochastic resonancenoise helps detect subthreshold signals
detection thresholdadding noise (e.g. movement) improves localization and sensitivity
HENNIG, M. & WORGOTTER, F. (2004). Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 16.

• lv ldithering

quantized• lv lvibration addedprimate retina

Thibos, L. N. (2002). "V648 Neurophysiology of Vision."• lv l

M. Rucci et al (BU)
stabilized images• lv lability to discriminate high frequencies
diminishes when eye motions are stabilized

Rucci, M (2008) “Fixational eye movements, natural image statistics,and fine spatial vision” Network: Computation in Neural Systems

• lv lanalogy to mpeg

most information in moving scenes is stable, redundant, and highly-correlated

image compression

=time

image

=+stable base + changes (derivatives)

Rucci, M (2008) “Fixational eye movements, natural image statistics,and fine spatial vision” Network: Computation in Neural Systems

• lv lother mechanisms
V4

filteringprocessing
V3
V2

primatebrain

not to scalemuscleslensretinaV1

LGN sorting
stationvision is a complex chain

vl•l
implications of neurology

for data analysis
1. Individuals Vary in Abilities for VisualCognition (especially at thresholds wherediscoveries are first made)2.Peripheral Information Can Be Important;more so for some people than others

optimal display designs respect biological diversity

• lv lCFA.NSF.study@verizon.net

• lv lDr. Matthew H. Schneps
Dr. L. Todd Rose

CFA.NSF.study@verizon.net

Dr. Lincoln Greenhill

Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics

Amanda Heffner-Wong

CFA.NSF.study@verizon.net

Dr. Marc Pomplun

University of Massachusetts

Dr. Susana Martinez-CondéBarrow Neurological InstituteNational Science Foundation
supported by the NSF under
grant HRD-0726032

Smithsonian Institution