Glyn Humphreys obituary

Key figure in cognitive neuroscience whose research helped many stroke victimsWhen the neuropsychologist Glyn Humphreys, who has died suddenly aged 61, took up his first lectureship, at Birkbeck College, London, a student with a background in physiotherapy joined his class. She asked about the implications of David Marr’s theory of visual perception for the understanding of patients who experience visual disturbances after suffering a stroke. This led to a lively discussion and a subsequent visit to a stroke clinic. It proved to be a turning point in Glyn’s research, highlighting the many ways in which brain damage can affect perception and cognition, and motivating him to attempt to understand not only the effects of such damage but also how patients can adapt to it.Together with his student, and future wife, Jane Riddoch, Glyn set about researching how we recognise objects – or fail to do so. The work led to their book To See But Not to See (1987), documenting the case of a patient, John, who had lost his ability to “see” objects not because of a problem of vision, but because of a disruption to how his brain interpreted visual information, a condition known as visual agnosia. Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 9, 2016 Category: Science Authors: Maggie Snowling Tags: Neuroscience Psychology Birkbeck, University of London Disability University of Oxford Source Type: news