Neuroimaging in Vision Science

Journal of Vision (2008) 8(10):i, 1–1 http://journalofvision.org/8/10/i/ 1 Special Issue Introduction Neuroimaging in vision science Royal Holloway, University of London, Andy Smith London, UK New York University, David Heeger New York, USA University of Washington, Geoff Boynton Washington, USA Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, Anthony Norcia California, USA Keywords: vision, neuroimaging Citation: Smith, A., Heeger, D., Boynton, G., & Norcia, A. (2008). Neuroimaging in vision science. Journal of Vision, 8(10):i, 1–1, http://journalofvision.org/8/10/i/, doi:10.1167/8.10.i. The past decade has seen rapid growth in the use of action run in both directions: vision researchers using imaging techniques to study the human brain. In the case imaging techniques may have more to gain from mixing of vision science, the firm foundation provided by several with non-imaging vision researchers than with non-vision decades of detailed psychophysics and neurophysiology imagers. has permitted rapid progress in defining the various visual What goes for conferences also goes for journals. It is areas of the human brain, establishing the nature of the important that those conducting imaging studies of vision visual information processing that occurs within them and publish their work where it will be read by vision examining non-retinal influences such as attention, mental scientists. It is less important that their work is accessible imagery and input from the other sense systems. to fellow imagers who work on language, emotion and The imaging community, and particularly the fast- consciousness. We therefore believe that vision journals growing fMRI community, is characterized by a high are a more natural home than imaging journals for degree of independence from the mainstream neuroimaging work on vision. The purpose of this special issue science community. The emphasis in the imaging com- is to collect together a number of high-quality imaging munity has been on developing methods of acquisition studies of visual processing and present them in a journal and analysis. Thriving new journals and conferences have used by vision researchers of varied methodological sprung up around neuroimaging, and methodology pro- persuasions. We hope that the collection serves a useful vides their core business. However, as the imaging scientific purpose in itself, but we also hope that it may approach matures and stabilizes, and its strengths and stimulate an increase in the number of imaging submis- weaknesses become clearer, it is important that imaging sions to the Journal of Vision in the future. applications addressing neuroscientific questions be inte- grated with research that uses alternative methods to address similar questions. The route to integration is the sharing of ideas and results among practitioners of Acknowledgments different approaches. Key to sharing ideas and results is the existence of conferences and journals that embrace wide-ranging methodologies within a restricted sub- discipline of neuroscience, in our case vision science. Commercial relationships: none. There has been a gratifying surge in imaging presentations Corresponding author: Andrew T. Smith. at recent annual meetings and a consequent increase in Email: [email protected]. awareness of imaging work among visual psychophysi- Address: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, cists and computational theorists. The benefits of inter- University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX UK. doi: 10.1167/8.10.i Published August 1, 2008 ISSN 1534-7362 * ARVO Downloaded from jov.arvojournals.org on 10/01/2021.

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