Organisation:
University of Stirling
Department:
Psychology
Interests:
I am interested in human visual perception and how the brain processes visual information. Visual processing is a hierarchical process of feature extraction and combination, with features increasing in complexity as one progresses along the visual pathway from retina to primary visual cortex and then to intermediate and higher visual areas. My studies of human vision focus on the relationship between the initial stages of vision that detect simple features and the intermediate-to-higher stages of vision that connect these features to form contours, textures, surfaces and shapes. I study human vision in both perceptual and physiological terms by using psychophysics, EEG/ ERP and computational modelling.
Research Themes:
- contextual effects on shape
- texture
- symmetry
- numerosity
- shape
- colour vision
- depth perception
Key Publications:
- Akgöz A., Gheorghiu E. & Kingdom F. A. A. (2022) Small-angle attraction in the tilt illusion. Journal of Vision, 22(8):16, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.22.8.16
- Gheorghiu E. & Dering B.R. (2020). Shape facilitates number: brain potentials and microstates reveal the interplay between shape and numerosity in human vision. Scientific Reports, 10, 12413. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68788-4
- Wright D., Dering B.R., Martinovic, J., & Gheorghiu E. (2020). Neural responses to dynamic adaptation reveal the dissociation between the processing of the shape of contours and textures. Cortex, 127, 78-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.01.015
- Sharman R.J. & Gheorghiu E. (2019). Speed tuning properties of mirror symmetry detection mechanisms. Scientific Reports, 9, 3431. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39064-x
- Wright D., Mitchell C., Dering B.R. & Gheorghiu E. (2018). Luminance-polarity distribution across the symmetry axis affects the electrophysiological response to symmetry. Neuroimage 173, 484-497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.02.008
- Gheorghiu E., & Kingdom F. A. A. (2017). Dynamics of contextual modulation of perceived shape in human vision. Scientific Reports, 7, 43274. http://www.nature.com/articles/srep43274
- Gheorghiu E., Kingdom F. A. A., Remkes A., Li H-C. & Rainville S. (2016). The role of color and attention-to-color in mirror-symmetry perception. Scientific Reports, 6, 29287.http://www.nature.com/articles/srep29287
- Gheorghiu E., Kingdom F. A. A., & Petkov, N. (2014). Contextual modulation as de-texturizer. Vision Research, 104: 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2014.08.013