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RESEARCH FELLOW ALUMNI |
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Nurit Gronau-Biten, PhD
Research Fellow in Radiology at Harvard Medical School
Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital
Department of Radiology, MGH
PhD, Psychology, The Hebrew University - Israel
149 Thirteenth Street, Rm 2301
Charlestown, MA 02129
Phone: 617-726-0305
Fax: 617-726-7422
Location: 36-405A
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DESCRIPTION OF WORK / BIOSKETCH
In the last years I have been investigating the mechanism of visual attention. In particular, I investigated the factors that lead to involuntary shifts of attention. Most of the literature on attentional capture focuses on perceptually salient stimuli such as flashing items or abrupt onsets. In my research I investigated the extent to which personally signifincant stimuli capture attentionwhen they are not relevant for the task at hand. A unique aspect of my study was the use of an uncommon physiological meansurement, the orienting response (skin conductance response), in addition to behavioral measurements typically used in the research of attention (e.g.response times). The results of my study showed that contrary to the common belief, personally significant stimuli do not capture attention when they appear in an unattended region. However, stimuli that are relevant to one’s current goals or to the current task demands, do capture attention, even when they appear outside the focus of attention. Currently, my main goal is to further elucidate the brain mechanisms underlying the interacation between visual attention and visual perception, using advanced brain imaging techniques (e.g. fMRI).
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