Figure 2.1. René Magritte, 1928 The Lovers (Les Amants), oil on canvas, 54 cm x 73 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

StageWhat happensExample 1 Light is taken into eye and converted to neural codes Look at The Lovers by Magritte (Figure 2.1) 2 Eye and brain process neural codes Objects\shapes are identified Figure is differentiated from backgorund A man and woman stand together, facing the viewer in the foreground. A pastoral scene is in the background with trees and grass. 3 Brain associations occur Personal memories (episodic) General knowledge (semantic) I was at a funeral of my aunt when my parents were dressed like this. The clothing of the couple is for a formal occasion in 20 th Century. Stages in Cognitive Model for Perceiving Art (Solso, 1994) Figure 2.2. Robert Solso's (1994) model with three cognitive stages for perceiving art.

PIXELS of image DOTS are perceived by eye LINES are made up of connected dots EDGES are seen as boundaries of OBJECTS Objects are seen as parts of a SCENE Viewers give MEANING to the scene STEPS IN PERCEPTION WHERE IT HAPPENS (Solso's Stage 2) ( PROBABLY ) Outside world – image itself reflects light eye – retina (3 layers of neurons) eye – retina & subcortex structure called the thalamus Cortex – occipital lobe, visual receiving area & inferior temporal (IT) lobe Cortex – inferior temporal lobe and medial temporal lobe (MT) All brain – IT, MT lobes, frontal lobes, subcortex Figure 2.3. Model of six steps of visual and cognitive processing of an image along with its probable location in the nervous system. This model is used by perceptual psychologists and neuroscientists.

Figure 2.4. (a) Anatomical tracings of three differently-shaped neurons: A is a pyramidal cell, B is a spiny stellate neuron, and C is a Purkinje cell found in abundance in the cerebellum brain structure. (b) Parts of a neuron in schematic drawing: (1) dendrites, (2) cell body, and (3) axon leading to cell B. A B C Dendrites receiving impulses from previous neurons Cell body Axon

Figure 2.5. Calvin and Hobbes illustrating how a neural impulse is an all-or-none event of energy output.

Figure 2.6. (a) A seascape photograph. (b) Brightness map of the photo of the sea representing the neural coding of brightness, color and orientation of image (Parkhurst et al., 2002).