Perception is the first step in the whole of the cognitive processes (attention, learning, memory, categorization, imagery, intuition, inference, comprehension, thought, judgement, expression) which culminate in the reasoning activity and to which emotions make a contribution. The production of perception representations is correlated with the perception events. Such perception representations occur by means of the contribution of two kinds of factors: sensory signals which reproduce the spatio-temporal characteristics of the receptor modifications, and interpretation of the intrinsic ambiguity of such signals by means of unconscious inferences. Various interactions intervene between bottom-up signals from peripheral receptors and top-down signals from higher centres.

Perception is the first step in the whole of the cognitive processes (attention, learning, memory, categorization, imagery, intuition, inference, comprehension, thought, judgement, expression) which culminate in the reasoning activity and to which emotions make a contribution. The production of perception representations is correlated with the perception events. Such perception representations occur by means of the contribution of two kinds of factors: sensory signals which reproduce the spatio-temporal characteristics of the receptor modifications, and interpretation of the intrinsic ambiguity of such signals by means of unconscious inferences. Various interactions intervene between bottom-up signals from peripheral receptors and top-down signals from higher centres. This is a useful book on downward processes in the perception representation mechanisms.

This book is a sequel on the topics of photoreception and phototransduction covered by Volume I of the series (Biophysics of Photoreception: Molecular and Phototransductive Events), adding the analysis of two other modalities of sensory reception and transduction — the chemical and mechanical ones, which are phylogenetically older. This characterization results not in a succession of three different and uncorrelated moments, but in a fruitful confrontation between experts which usually act separately and in an integration between various particular knowledges. This approach highlights the basic strategies common to different sensory modalities and specializations, as well as the ecological adaptations of each of them.

For a few decades, the puzzle of consciousness, which for centuries was analysed by philosophers, has been finding a wide interest in the scientific field, where previously it was not entitled to be a member. It has become one of the most-debated problems in the cognitive sciences. The anatomical bases, neurophysiological correlates and elementary mechanisms underlying complex processes arising with consciousness have been compared with the psychological (perceptive, cognitive, volitive, emotional) aspects of conscious expressions, in normal and pathological conditions. Various theories, which attempt to fit systematically and coherently neural and psychological data, have been debated, proving the emergence of the phenomenon of consciousness.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Brain, Vision and Artificial Intelligence, BVAI 2007. Coverage includes: basic models in visual sciences, cortical mechanism of vision, color processing in natural vision, action oriented vision, visual recognition and attentive modulation, biometric recognition, image segmentation and recognition, disparity calculation and noise analysis, meaning-interaction-emotion, and robot navigation.

This international selection of 34 papers from the Tokyo '99 conference held at the United Nations University gives a valuable state of the art overview of consciousness research. Not only the recognized European and American approaches but also the distinguishing approaches from many Japanese researchers are presented. It will provide a world-wide audience with a comprehensive outlook for the remarkable potential contribution in the future scene of consciousness research.The Tokyo '99 declaration to promote scientists' ethical warning against the thoughtless aiming of consciousness research at warfare is also included.(Series B)