We cordially invite you to the next lecture of the BME cognitive seminar series: Attention! We moved to a new location. Date & Time: October 24, Monday, 12:00-13:00 Location: BME, XI., Egry József utca 1., T. ép 515. * Ready to experience: Binocular function is turned on earlier in preterm infants Ilona Kovács* Department of Cognitive Science Budapest University of Technology and Economics http://cogsci.bme.hu/~ikovacs/ Abstract The cerebral cortex of the human brain is remarkably prone to environmental input early in life; however, the precise contribution of experience in the development of cortical functions is unresolved. Employing a visual evoked potential paradigm, we ask whether the extra postnatal visual experience in preterm human neonates leads to a change in the developmental timing of binocular vision. The results suggest that the developmental processes preceding the onset of binocular function are not preprogrammed, and that the mechanisms turning on stereopsis are experience-dependent. This finding opens up a number of further queries with respect to human-specific cortical plasticity. -- Attila Keresztes Junior Research Fellow Budapest University of Technology and Economics Dept. of Cognitive Science, Egry József u. 1, Budapest 1111, Hungary Tel: +36 1 4633525