Research Interests
My research concerns human visual perception, with emphasis on binocular vision, motion perception and the role of temporal structure in perceptual organization. Using psychophysical techniques we study the abilities of people to make judgements about the 3D structure and layout of objects, with an eye toward developing neural models to account for those abilities. The psychophysical work uses computer generated animation sequences viewed stereoscopically to simulate 3D objects undergoing transformations associated with motion, including biological motion. The theoretical work relies heavily on extant physiological and neurological data. A major theme running throughout my work is the establishment of "sites" of visual information processing based on perceptual data. In recent years, my colleagues and I have developed several fruitful localization strategies, including ones that utilize binocular rivalry as a neural "reference" for localizing other sites of action. The inferential strength of this so-called "psychoanatomical" technique will continue to grow as more is learned about the actual neural concomitants of visual information processing. To supplement this strategy, I am also using brain imaging (fMRI) and TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) to study neural concomitants of binocular rivalry (including traveling waves of dominance) and perception of biological motion. In recent years, I have also studied visual imagery, visual memory, synaesthesia, auditory influences on vision and the role of knowledge in visual perception. My laboratory, which is supported by grants from NIH and NSF, is part of the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, a multidisciplinary group of vision scientists with graduate and postdoctoral training programs.
Some of my recent papers, presentations and chapters:
Polonsky A, Blake R, Braun J & Heeger D (2000) Neuronal activity in human primary visual cortex correlates with perception during binocular rivalry. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 1153-1159.
Blake R (2001) A primer on binocular rivalry, including current controversies. Brain and Mind, 2, 5-38.
Lee, S.H. & Blake, R. (2001) Neural synergy in visual grouping. Vision Research, 41, 2057-2064.
Grossman, E & Blake, R (2001) Brain activity evoked by inverted and imagined biological motion. Vision Research, 41, 1475-1482.
Wilson, H.R., Blake, R. & Lee, S.H. (2001) Dynamics of traveling waves in visual perception. Nature, 412, 907-910. (see also this news piece)
Palmeri, T., Blake, R., Marois, R., Flanery, M.A. & Whetsell, W. (2002) Perceptual reality of synesthetic colors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 99, 4127-4131. (see also this news piece)
Sobel, D. & Blake, R. (2002) How context influences predominance during binocular rivalry. Perception, 31, 813-824.
Blake, R. & Logothetis, N. (2002) Visual competition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3, 1 - 11.
Grossman, E. & Blake, R. (2002) Brain areas active during visual perception of biological motion. Neuron, 35, 1167-1176
Aslin. C., Blake, R. & Chun, M. (2002) Perceptual learning of temporal structure, Vision Research, 42,3019-3030.
Blake, R., Turner, L.M., Smoski, M.J., Pozdol, S.L. & Stone, W.L. (2003) Visual recognition of biological motion is impaired in children with autism. Psychological Science, 14, 151-157.
Tadin, D., Lappin, J.S., Blake, R. & Grossman, E. (2002) What constitutes an efficient reference frame for vision? Nature Neuroscience, 5, 1010 - 1015.
Tadin, D., Lappin, J.S., Gilroy, L & Blake, R. (2003) Perceptual consquences of centre-surround antagonism in visual motion processing. Nature, 424, 313-315.
Blake, R., Sobel, K. & Gilroy, L. (2003) Visual motion retards alternations between conflicting perceptual interpretations. Neuron, 39, 869-878.
Lee, S.H. & Blake, R. (2004) A fresh look at interocular grouping during binocular rivalry. Vision Research, 44, 983-991.
Blake, R., Sobel, K. & James, T. (2004) Neural synergy between kinetic vision and touch, Psychological Science, 15, 397-402.
Blake, R. & Lee, S-H. (2005) The role of temporal structure in human vision. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 4, 21-42,
Lee, S.H., Blake, R. and Heeger, D. (2005) Traveling waves of activity in primary visual cortex during binocular rivalry. Nature Neuroscience, 8, 22 – 23.
Guttman, S., Gilroy, L. & Blake (2005) Hearing what the eyes see: auditory encoding of visual temporal structure. Psychological Science, 16, 228-235.
Kim, C.Y. & Blake, R. (2005) Psychophysical strategies for rendering the normally visible "invisible”, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 381-388.
Kim, C.Y. & Blake, R. (2005) Watercolour illusion induced by synaesthetic colours. Perception, 34, 1501-1507.
Tadin, D., Lappin, J. S., & Blake, R. (2006). Fine temporal properties of center-surround interactions in motion revealed by reverse correlation. Journal of Neuroscience. 26, 2614-2622.
Tsuchiya, N., Koch, C., Gilroy, L.A. & Blake, R. (2006) Depth of interocular suppression associated with continuous flash suppression, flash suppression, and binocular rivalry. Journal of Vision. 10, 1068-1078.
Blake, R., Tadin, D., Sobel, K., Chong, S.C. & Raissian, R. (2006) Strength of early visual adaptation depends on visual awareness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 103, 4783-4788.
Blake, R. & Shiffrar, M. (2007) Perception of human motion. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 47-73.
Guttman, S., Gilroy, L. & Blake, R. (2007) Spatial grouping in human vision: temporal structure trumps temporal synchrony. Vision Research, 47, 219-230.
Pearson, J., Tadin, D. & Blake, R. (2007) Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on visual rivalry. Journal of Vision, 7, 1-11.
Lee, S-H., Blake, R. & Heeger, D. (2007) Hierarchy of cortical responses underlying binocular rivalry. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 1048-1054.
Randolph Blake

512 Wilson Hall • 111 21st. Avenue South • Nashville, TN 37203
Email: randolph.blake@vanderbilt.edu • Phone: (615) 343-7010 • Fax: (615) 343-8449

Vanderbilt Vision Research Center • Department of Psychology • Vanderbilt University