Nonlinear recurrent mechanisms for the processing and representation of surface boundaries based on luminance and texture gradients [Elektronische Ressource] / von Axel Thielscher

Nonlinear Recurrent Mechanisms for the Processing and Representation of Surface Boundaries Based on Luminance and Texture Gradients DISSERTATION zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines DOKTOR-INGENIEURS (DR.-ING.) der Fakultät für Ingenieurwissenschaften und Informatik der Universität Ulm von Dr. biol. hum. Axel Thielscher aus Kösching Betreuer: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Lindner Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Heiko Neumann Amtierender Dekan: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Helmuth Partsch Ulm, 30.04.08 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. J. Lindner for the interest he showed in the topic of this PhD thesis (which is not in the mainstream of his research) and for kindly undertaking the responsibilities as supervisor. Furthermore, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. M. Spitzer for giving me the opportunity to realize this thesis when I was member of the Department of Psychiatry (University of Ulm). Prof. Dr. M.A. Cohen (CNS, Boston University) provided helpful comments on the stability analysis in chapter 2. My former colleagues PD Dr. G. Grön and M. Koelle offered substantial support and steady motivation that enabled me to perform two fMRI-experiments to test some of the predictions of the neural model. I am grateful for Prof. Dr. H. Neumann's steady support during the last years, his motivating and enlightening remarks and the frequent discussions which proved very helpful for my work.