We Know It When We See It: What the Neurobiology of Vision Tells Us About How We Think

by Richard Masland

Overview

A Harvard researcher investigates the human eye in this insightful account of what vision reveals about intelligence, learning, and the greatest mysteries of neuroscience.



Spotting a face in a crowd is so easy, you take it for granted. But how you do it is one of science's great mysteries. And vision is involved with so much of everything your brain does. Explaining how it works reveals more than just how you see. In We Know It When We See It, Harvard neuroscientist Richard Masland tackles vital questions about how the brain processes information — how it perceives, learns, and remembers — through a careful study of the inner life of the eye.


Covering everything from what happens when light hits your retina, to the increasingly sophisticated nerve nets that turn that light into knowledge, to what a computer algorithm must be able to do before it can be called truly "intelligent," We Know It When We See It is a profound yet approachable investigation into how our bodies make sense of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541618503
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	772,541
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard Masland is the David Glendenning Cogan distinguished professor of ophthalmology and professor of neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. For many years he was director for research in ophthalmology at Harvard's Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, the world's largest vision research institute. He is a fellow of the AAAS, a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and a recipient of the Proctor Medal and Alcon Research Award, among others. Masland has made groundbreaking contributions to the study of neural networks and to the reversal of blindness. He divides his time between Boston, Massachusetts and Frenchtown, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The First Steps Toward Vision 5

1 The Wonder of Perception 7

2 Neurons That Sing to the Brain 11

3 A Microprocessor in the Eye 35

4 Ghost Neurons 55

5 What the Eye Tells the Brain 77

Part II Into the Wild 87

6 Sensory Messages Enter the Brain 89

7 What Happens Next: Not One Cortex but Many 105

8 The Malleable Senses 117

9 Inventing the Nerve Net: Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together 129

10 Machine Learning, Brains, and Seeing Computers 151

11 Vision of Vision 171

Part III To the Horizon 185

12 Why Evolution Loved Nerve Nets 187

13 Some Mysteries, Some Progress 193

14 In the Distance 207

Glossary 217

Acknowledgments 221

Figure Credits 223

Notes 225

Bibliography 233

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

11/25/2019

Masland, a Harvard Medical School neuroscience professor, misses the mark in this attempt to explain vision’s neurobiological basis to a general audience. He does a very good job of explaining how perception broadly, including vision, works, and even those without any grounding in the fundamentals of biology will be able to gain an appreciation of how the nervous system interacts with the outside world and conveys information to the brain. What works less well is the complexity that intrudes as Masland moves beyond the basics (“If the axons of the retinal ganglion cells synapse upon the neurons of the lateral geniculate nucleus...”), making it unlikely that his target audience will stay with him. His forays into comparing the ways brains process visual stimuli with the ways in which artificial intelligence attempts to accomplish the same task are intriguing but abbreviated, as is his almost fleeting discussion of the nature of consciousness, in which he concludes, “In the end I fear that consciousness is unknowable.” Those looking for a scientific explanation of vision will find a useful primer, but those searching for answers to larger questions, such as the one posed by Masland’s subtitle, are likely to be disappointed. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"How do we recognize a face in a crowd? Starting with this question, Masland teaches us not only how we see but how we think and remember. Step by step, he paints a picture of the brain as a dynamic, wide-ranging coalition of nerve nets. This picture provides striking parallels with artificial intelligence and highlights the remarkable adaptability, creativity, and resilience of the brain."—Susan R. Barry, author of Fixing My Gaze and professor emeritus of neuroscience and behavior, Mount Holyoke College

"We Know It When We See It is the definitive description of the neuroscience of perception. Using language anyone can understand, Masland teaches us about the hardware — the cells and circuits, and the software — the logic and computations, that our brains use to create our experience of the world. Anyone interested in perception, machines that can learn, or how the brain works should read it."—Andrew D. Huberman, professor of neurobiology and Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine


"A masterful page-turner that braids science and the stories behind the science. Wise, insightful, and written with the approachability and wisdom that only a veteran of the field can achieve."—David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford, New York Times-bestselling author

From the Publisher

01/01/2020

Masland (neuroscience, Harvard Medical Sch.) here asks, "How do our brains perform object recognition?" In order to answer that question, one has to understand how vision works and also how the brain makes sense of the outside world. To that end, Masland explains in depth a great number of concepts, from the basic function of neurons and retinal ganglion cells to the theory of nerve nets within the brain. Masland's enthusiasm and love for the field of neuroscience are apparent throughout the text. Included are a plethora of interesting anecdotes gathered over a lifetime of scientific work. However, it does require stamina for the layperson to wade through the dense scientific explanations provided. While the question is simple—how do we know it when we see it?—it turns out the answer is complex. VERDICT Recommended only for those with a strong science background or the patience to unpack the richly detailed scientific explanations. For those readers, Masland provides a well-researched exploration of a fascinating question.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's Sch., Brooklyn

Library Journal

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