Is That You? How the Brain Recognizes Faces

Most people take it for granted that they are instantly able to recognize faces in the crowd. But this depends on incredibly complicated processes occurring in your eyes and brain. In this presentation, I will examine recent research on how patterns of light and dark are analyzed by the brain to create a unified perception of a face. Chris Vecsey: I just completed my 5th year at Skidmore as Assistant Professor in the Neuroscience Program. I grew up in cow and corn country a few hours West of here, so it has been great to be back in upstate NY after graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, a post-doctoral research fellowship at Brandeis University, and a Visiting Assistant Professor position at Swarthmore College. Everything about the brain fascinates me, but what I have actively researched in the past revolves around 2 major topics: memory and sleep. My current research aims uses fruit flies as a model organism to learn more about the signals in the brain that control the timing and quality of sleep. I teach a variety of courses at Skidmore, including core introductory and 200-level neuroscience courses and 300-level seminars on Sleep and Memory.