Natural images are highly ambiguous in the sense that the same image could be caused by many possible combinations of 3-D shapes, surface colours, and light sources. Despite this ambiguity, we see and behave in the world effortlessly.  How do our brains create visual representations that overcome such challenges? To explore this, I carry out psychophysical experiments that I interpret with computational, and neural network models.  

Publications

Morgenstern, Y., Storrs, K. R., Schmidt, F., Hartmann, F., Tiedemann, H., Wagemans, J., & Fleming, R. W. (2024). High-level aftereffects reveal the role of statistical features in visual shape encoding. Current Biology.  [data]

Schmidt, F., Tiedemann, H., Fleming, R. W., & Morgenstern, Y. (2023). Inferring shape transformations in a drawing task. Memory and Cognition,1-11. [data]   

Akbarinia, A., Morgenstern, Y., & Gegenfurtner, K.R. (2023). Contrast sensitivity function in deep networks.  Neural Networks.  164, 228-244. [data]

Stewart, E. E. M., Hartmann, F. T., Morgenstern, Y., Storrs, K. R., Maiello, G., & Fleming, R. W.(2022). Mental object rotations based on two-dimensional visual representations. Current Biology., 32(21), PR1224-R1225. [data] [dispatch]

Tiedemann, H., Morgenstern, Y., Schmidt, F., & Fleming, R. W. (2022). One-shot generalization revealed through a drawing task. eLife; 11: e75485  [data and stimuli]

Morgenstern, Y. , Schmidt, F., Hartmann, F., Tiedemann, H., Prokott, E., Maiello, G., & Fleming, R. (2021). An image-computable model of human visual shape similarity. PLoS Computational Biology., 17(6), e1008981. [data and stimuli]  [ShapeComp code]

Schmidt, F.,  Kleis, J., Morgenstern, Y., & Fleming, R. W. (2020).The role of semantics in the perceptual organization of shape. Scientific reports, 10(1), 22141. [data and stimuli]

Morgenstern, Y., Schmidt, F., & Fleming, R. W. (2020). A dataset for evaluating one-shot categorization of novel object classes. Data in Brief, 105302. [data and code] [stimuli]

Morgenstern, Y., Schmidt, F., & Fleming, R. W. (2019). One-shot categorization of novel object classes in humans. Vision Research, 165, 98 -108.  [stim. gen. code]  [data and code]

Karimpur, H., Morgenstern, Y., & Fiehler, K. (2019). Facilitation of allocentric coding by virtue of object-semantics. Scientific reports, 9(1), 6263. [data and stimuli]

Morgenstern, Y., & Kersten D.J. (2017). The perceptual dimensions of natural dynamic flow. Journal of Vision, 17(7), 1-25. [stimuli] 

Purves, D., Morgenstern, Y., & Wojtach, W. (2015). Perception and reality:  Why a wholly empirical paradigm is needed to understand vision.   Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience , 9, 156.

Morgenstern, Y., Geisler, W. S., & Murray, R. F. (2015). The role of natural lighting diffuseness in human visual perception. In IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging (pp. 93940P-93940P). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

Purves, D., Morgenstern, Y., & Wojtach, W. T. (2015). Will understanding vision require a wholly empirical paradigm?. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1072.

Morgenstern, Y., Rostami, M., & Purves, D. (2014). Properties of artificial networks evolved to contend with natural spectra.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 111(Supplement 3), 10868-10872.

Morgenstern, Y., Rukmini, D.V., Monson, B. B., & Purves, D. (2014). Properties of artificial neurons that report lightness based on accumulated experience with luminance. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 8:134. doi: 10.3389/fncom.2014.00134

Morgenstern, Y., Geisler, W.S., & Murray, R.F. (2014). Human vision is attuned to the diffuseness of natural illumination. Journal of Vision. 14(9):15, 1-18. [data and code]

Morgenstern, Y., & Elder, J. H. (2012). Local visual energy mechanisms revealed by detection of global patterns. Journal of Neuroscience. 32(11), 3679 – 3696.

Morgenstern, Y., Murray, R. F., & Harris, L. R. (2011). The human visual system's assumption that light comes from above is weak. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 108(30), 12551-12553.

Murray, R.F., & Morgenstern, Y. (2010).  Cue combination on the circle and the sphere. Journal of Vision. 10(11):15, 1-11.