How Arousal Changes How We See the World
Official title: Investigating the Effect of Arousal on Visual Processing
Funded at Boston University (Charles River Campus) · NIH-11641014 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This grant studies how moments of alertness or mood changes alter how the brain processes what we see.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston University (Charles River Campus) NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $119,057 |
| NIH project number | 3R01EY035640-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11641014 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with typical vision who can undergo noninvasive brain imaging and psychophysical testing.
✕Less likely to help
People who cannot participate in MRI/fMRI or who have conditions excluding safe imaging may not benefit.
What this research studies
Researchers will use noninvasive brain imaging and visual tests to understand how arousal shifts visual processing in healthy people. They will test ideas about norepinephrine and gain control in the visual system, linking brain signals to what people report seeing. The goal is to clarify how everyday fluctuations in arousal influence perception and cognition. This could illuminate how attention and perception interact in real-life tasks like driving or rapid scene understanding.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could improve our understanding of conditions that affect attention and perception, potentially informing new approaches to diagnosing or treating related disorders.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work supports that arousal can modulate sensory gain, but this project aims to directly test visual-system-specific gain changes in humans.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston University (Charles River Campus)
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ling, Sam — Boston University (Charles River Campus)
- Study coordinator: Ling, Sam
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.