Research in the laboratory focuses on the brain basis of visual cognition, including object perception, categorization, and selective attention. Current research projects investigate selective attention and feature-based processing using computer- based visual search tasks. Regional brain involvement in selection is assessed in neurosurgical patients by measuring the impact of focal brain resection on search performance. Parallel research in neurologically intact individuals is currently being undertaken in order to map regional brain activity during the performance of visual search and discrimination tasks. This project will employ Nuclear Magnetic Resonance scanning to generate a spatio-temporal map of forebrain activity during task performance.
Representative publications:
Bolster, R.B. (in press). Role of the frontal and temporal lobes in scanning visual features. To appear in: Proceedings of the Second Appalachian Conference on Behavioral Neurodynamics, Hillsdale, N.J., Erlbaum.
Bolster, R.B, & Pribram, K.H. (1993). Cortical involvement in visual scan in the monkey. Perception & Psychophysics, 53 (5), 505-518.
Bolster, R.B., Marshall, W., Bow, J., Chalmers, N. & Stubel, M. (1986). Visual selective attention and impulsivity in learning- disabled children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 2, 25-40.
Bolster, R.B., Honeyman, J., Gillis, V., & Wilson, M. (1986). Effects of focal brain damage on categorization of visual and haptic features. Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 601-606). Hillsdale, N.J., Erlbaum.