Research Focus
The Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab investigates how information from audition, emotion, action and cognition influences the visual brain, both in sighted and blind humans.
Human visual cortex is often thought of as mainly processing information arriving from the eyes. However, research from our lab and others has shown that visual cortex also represents information from the rest of the brain. We focus on how visual cortex and eye movements are influenced by information from audition, emotion, action and cognition (see Research Topics). We study these influences mostly in the absence of conscious sight, that is, during eyes closed, during suppression of visual information from conscious awareness and during blindness. Our research on blindness focusses on how the blind brain represents space and information from audition, action, touch, smell and taste.
The lab is currently funded by:
- a Consolidator Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (ERC replacement scheme, 1.75 Mio CHF, 5 years, PI: Prof. Petra Vetter)
- a Research Project Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (748,000 CHF, 3 years, PI: Prof. Petra Vetter, Co-PI: Prof. Ella Striem-Amit, Georgetown University, PD Dr. Marzia de Lucia, University of Lausanne)
- a PRIMA Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (1.5 Mio CHF, 5 years, Principal Investigator: Prof. Petra Vetter)
- a research grant from the BIAL Foundation (40K EUR, 3 years, PI: Prof. Petra Vetter, Co-PI: Prof. Carolyn McGettigan, UCL).
Methods
We employ a range of methods from cognitive neuroscience: fMRI (including multivariate pattern analysis and retinotopic mapping), eye-tracking, psychophysics (continuous flash suppression, binocular rivalry, dual-task paradigms), psychophysiology (fear-conditioning, skin conductance response), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
Key Publications
Pollicina, G., Müller, S., Dalton, P., & Vetter, P. (2025) Decoding semantic sound categories in early visual cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 35(8), bhaf208. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf208
Ioannucci, S., & Vetter, P. (2025). Semantic audio-visual congruence modulates visual sensitivity to biological motion across awareness levels. Cognition, 262, 106181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106181
Vetter, P., Badde, S., Ferre, E., Seubert, J. & Shinn-Cunningham, B. (2024). Evaluating cognitive penetrability of perception across the senses. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3, 804-820. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00382-1
Hu, J. & Vetter, P. (2024). How the eyes respond to sounds. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1532(1), 18-36. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15093
Bola, L. *, Vetter, P.*, Wenger, M. & Amedi, A. (2023). Decoding reach direction in early “visual” cortex of congenitally blind individuals. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(46),7868-78. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0376-23.2023
Vetter, P.*, Bola, L.*, Reich, L., Bennett, M., Muckli, L., & Amedi, A. (2020). Decoding natural sounds in early “visual” cortex of congenitally blind individuals. Current Biology, 30 (15), 3039-3044.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.071
Vetter, P.*, Badde, S.*, Phelps, E. A., & Carrasco, M. (2019). Emotional faces guide the eyes in the absence of awareness. ELife, 8, e43467. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43467
Vetter, P., Smith, F. W., & Muckli, L. (2014). Decoding sound and imagery content in early visual cortex. Current Biology, 24 (11), 1256–1262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.020