Short description:
Visual perception starts with the simple elaboration of visual inputs in the retina, and continues in cortical areas, where progressively more complex information (e.g. shape, color, motion) is encoded by specific mechanisms. As regards dogs, while the elaboration of visual inputs at eye level is relatively well known, knowledge about higher-order processing is very limited. One of the aspects in which we are currently interested is how dogs encode biological motion, i.e. their ability to extract information of various nature (e.g. identification of species, recognition of specific behavioral patterns), by looking at moving stimuli devoid of any other recognizable visual attribute. Another potential area of research is the perception of visual illusions, on the rationale that the susceptibility to specific illusory patterns is indicative about the underlying processing mechanisms. Through these approaches we expect to obtain a significant improvement in our understanding of how dogs perceive their surroundings. The topic, however, is well suited to extend beyond such basic aim. For instance, the assessment of older dogs’ susceptibility to visual illusions, known to be affected by ageing in humans, may contribute towards an improved understanding of canine brain ageing. The evaluation of dogs’ responses to biological motion stimuli is important in view of a potential use as an assessment tool for relevant behavioral traits, such as social fear/aggression or predatory drive.
Five publications related to the Research Topic for the interview: