The Edge of Nature |Steve McGaughey||August 29th 2012| Like a
melody that keeps playing in your head even after the music
stops, researchers at the Beckman Institute have shown that the
beat goes on when it comes to the human visual system. In an
experiment designed to test their theory about a brain mechanism
involved in visual processing, the researchers used periodic
visual stimuli and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and
found, one, that they could precisely time the brain’s natural
oscillations to future repetitions of the event, and, two, that
the effect occurred even after the prompting stimuli was
discontinued. These rhythmic oscillations lead to a heightened
visual awareness of the next event, meaning controlling them
could lead to better visual processing when it matters most,
such as in environments like air traffic control towers. The
research was reported by Beckman faculty members Monica Fabiani,
Gabriele Gratton, Diane Beck, Alejandro Lleras, first author and
Beckman Fellow Kyle Mathewson,