Our experience of the world does not come as undifferentiated data flux. Rather, we experience the world through basic categories such as space, time, continuity, discreteness and causality. I study the human visual system to explore why we experience the world in this way and how our brain creates these basic building blocks of perception. I use a combination of psychophysics, visual illusions, modeling and patient studies. I am also investigating the role of attention (or, the 'effort of the will') in creating perceived spatial and temporal relationships between visual events. Another aspect of my research examines the relationship between 'looking' (the oculomotor system) and 'seeing' (the visual system).

Cai, R.H., Jacobson, K., Baloh, R., Schlag-Rey, M. & Schlag, J. (2000). Vestibular signals can distort the perceived spatial relationship of retinal stimuli. Experimental Brain Research, 135(2): 275-8.

Schlag, J., Cai, R.H., Dorfman, A., Mohempour, A. & Schlag-Rey, M. (2000) Extrapolate movement without retinal motion. Nature, 403: 38-39.

Cai, R.H., Pouget, A., Schlag-Rey M. & Schlag J. (1997). Perceived geometrical relationships affected by eye-movement signals. Nature, 386: 601-604.