Where am I? Our internal GPS

Peter MolemanArticles, MemoryLeave a Comment

Waar ben ik? Ons interne GPS | Peter Moleman

London taxi drivers know every street in London, as well as all the restaurants, post offices, shops and more. In our brain there is an ingenious GPS. And this GPS is integrated with our life history and emotions. Try doing that with a navigator!

Recognising faces

Peter MolemanArticles, Parts and the wholeLeave a Comment

Gezichten herkennen | Peter Moleman

You walk down a street and nearly bump into someone; you look at their face and in a fraction of a second you know who it is. It does not really matter if you see them in profile or full face. And one can do this with thousands of faces; a clever trick of our brains. How do we recognise faces?

Amazing and paradoxical

Peter MolemanArticles, The world within your headLeave a Comment

Verbazingwekkend en paradoxaal | Peter Moleman

What is the relation between what the neurologist calls amazing and the psychiatrist paradoxical? Our impression of the world around us is not formed on the basis of what we actually perceive with our senses. Instead, we carry a preexisting image of our surroundings in our head, and we check if that matches with our perceptions. Sometimes this goes awry.