Marlene Behrmann

Behrmann's research is characterized by deep analysis of cognitive processes in relation to the neural substrate, utilizing broad methodology. In an early clinical case study, she dissociated object perception from visual imagery, disconfirming the dominating theory. Recent work on the neural face network incorporated detailed morphometric and volumetric analysis of the visual cortex of people with congenital prosopagnosia, showing disruption of connective brain tracts in the ventral pathway. She also found abnormalities in fiber tracts in the brains of high-functioning autistic subjects and demonstrated that overconnectivity in underlying circuits increases the variability of neural responses, with implications for perception.