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Jonathan S. Cant


Jonathan S. Cant
  • Jonathan S. Cant
  • Associate Professor
  • (416) 208-2963 jonathan[dot]cant[at]utoronto[dot]ca
  • Department of Psychology
    University of Toronto Scarborough
    1265 Military Trail
    Toronto, ON M1C 1A4
    Canada

Welcome to the Cant Lab!

In general, we investigate how we perceive the complex visual world around us. More specifically, we focus on how the human brain accomplishes certain biologically relevant visual tasks, ranging from how we perceive single objects to how our brain processes entire visual scenes. Using a combination of functional neuroimaging (fMRI) and psychophysical behavioural techniques, we aim to explore the neural substrates and representational qualities of multiple aspects of human visual perception and cognition, with specific focus on uncovering the underlying visual attributes that lead to successful object and scene perception, how these perceptual processes interact with one another, and how these types of processing lead one to produce skilled and adaptive behaviours.

A major goal of the laboratory is to explore the functional organization of high-level human visual cortex, with specific focus on the ventral stream of visual processing, a cortical pathway involved in visual perception and identification. Some of the specific research goals of the laboratory are to:

- Explore the organizational principles of the ventral stream of visual processing (e.g., whether the organization of visual cortex is weighted more heavily towards a modular, distributed, or hybrid model of cortical organization)

- Examine the functional specialization of different regions of human visual cortex (e.g., investigating dissociations between single-object and object-ensemble perception; investigating dissociations between the processing of object shape and surface-based visual cues such as texture and colour)

- Investigate the importance of material properties to multiple aspects of human behaviour (e.g., visual object recognition, visual scene perception, multisensory processing, visuomotor control)

- Investigate interactions between the processing of biologically relevant stimulus categories (e.g., between scene & object perception; between face & body perception)

- Explore how visual perception, aesthetic perception, and affective/emotional processing interact to affect memory and decision making


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