Christoph Strauch
@cstrauch.bsky.social
Assistant professor @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social studying spatial attention, eye-movements, pupillometry, and more. Co-PI @attentionlab.bsky.social
Depends I'd say. Memory capacity for simple items, psychoaccoustics about a psychophysically established masking threshold etc stand practically undebated, yet one may want to know specific effect sizes.
January 22, 2026 at 11:24 AM
Depends I'd say. Memory capacity for simple items, psychoaccoustics about a psychophysically established masking threshold etc stand practically undebated, yet one may want to know specific effect sizes.
Fair enough. I would say there is still use for them, e.g., for power estimations, but indeed that's not the classical use case of whether there is an effect to begin with.
January 21, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Fair enough. I would say there is still use for them, e.g., for power estimations, but indeed that's not the classical use case of whether there is an effect to begin with.
My intuition is that this will depend on effect size though, correct? If effects are generally quite large, publication bias is less severe as an issue and a meta analysis can give quite good estimates of how big effects are?
January 20, 2026 at 1:39 PM
My intuition is that this will depend on effect size though, correct? If effects are generally quite large, publication bias is less severe as an issue and a meta analysis can give quite good estimates of how big effects are?
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
Talking today about whether attention can modulate retinal activity, come join! 👁️ #nvp25
This afternoon at #nvp2025, an entire session on cognitive #pupillometry 👁️ with talks by @anavili.bsky.social , @cstrauch.bsky.social and others. See you at 👉 12:00! #psychology
December 18, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Talking today about whether attention can modulate retinal activity, come join! 👁️ #nvp25
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
This afternoon at #nvp2025, an entire session on cognitive #pupillometry 👁️ with talks by @anavili.bsky.social , @cstrauch.bsky.social and others. See you at 👉 12:00! #psychology
December 18, 2025 at 8:36 AM
This afternoon at #nvp2025, an entire session on cognitive #pupillometry 👁️ with talks by @anavili.bsky.social , @cstrauch.bsky.social and others. See you at 👉 12:00! #psychology
I wasn't too sure this would work with the pupil to be honest. In hindsight, I would have collected the data in addition!
But if it works with the pupil, it will work with the eeg as well I think
But if it works with the pupil, it will work with the eeg as well I think
November 27, 2025 at 9:15 AM
I wasn't too sure this would work with the pupil to be honest. In hindsight, I would have collected the data in addition!
But if it works with the pupil, it will work with the eeg as well I think
But if it works with the pupil, it will work with the eeg as well I think
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
Synesthetes claim sensory experiences, such as seeing color when reading or hearing a (black) number.
But how genuine are these reports and sensations? We introduce a rather direct measure of synesthetic perception: Synesthetes’ pupils respond to evoked color as if it was real color #vision! 👁️🎨🧪
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Synesthetes claim sensory experiences, such as seeing color when reading or hearing a (black) number.
But how genuine are these reports and sensations? We introduce a rather direct measure of synesthetic perception: Synesthetes’ pupils respond to evoked color as if it was real color #vision! 👁️🎨🧪
Preprint available here: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Pupil size reveals the perceptual quality and effortless nature of synesthesia
Synesthesia describes cross-modal processes that can generate 'extra' conscious percepts, such as seeing additional color when reading numbers. While existing research focuses on the mechanisms and ef...
www.biorxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Preprint available here: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Thanks to my co-authors Romke Rouw and Casper Leenaars! And last but not least to synesthete and PhD candidate @tessiehamers.bsky.social that helped with numerous pilot versions.
Preprint out now, let's see for the paper in final version. All materials online - get in touch!
Preprint out now, let's see for the paper in final version. All materials online - get in touch!
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Thanks to my co-authors Romke Rouw and Casper Leenaars! And last but not least to synesthete and PhD candidate @tessiehamers.bsky.social that helped with numerous pilot versions.
Preprint out now, let's see for the paper in final version. All materials online - get in touch!
Preprint out now, let's see for the paper in final version. All materials online - get in touch!
Together, synesthetes sensory reports are now backed by a physiological marker that taps right into low-level sensation: after all, the pupil is part of the sensory organ itself!
We hope that our measure provides the tool to study synesthesia where it's most interesting: at the experience level.
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Together, synesthetes sensory reports are now backed by a physiological marker that taps right into low-level sensation: after all, the pupil is part of the sensory organ itself!
We hope that our measure provides the tool to study synesthesia where it's most interesting: at the experience level.
More importantly, we also looked at overall pupil responses between groups: reporting a color let pupils dilate in controls (higher effort!) but not in synesthetes, whose pupils corresponded to controls not having to report anything (i.e.: it is effortless for them!). Imagery is not effortless.
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
More importantly, we also looked at overall pupil responses between groups: reporting a color let pupils dilate in controls (higher effort!) but not in synesthetes, whose pupils corresponded to controls not having to report anything (i.e.: it is effortless for them!). Imagery is not effortless.
Relative to colored stimuli presented on screen, this response was a couple of hundred milliseconds later. Could it be active imagery of colors in our synesthetes then?
No. Responses were too fast for that (imagery + response latency wouldn't allow for it).
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Relative to colored stimuli presented on screen, this response was a couple of hundred milliseconds later. Could it be active imagery of colors in our synesthetes then?
No. Responses were too fast for that (imagery + response latency wouldn't allow for it).
We then took the brightness of each reported color to predict the pupil response to the (physically) nothing but gray number. And indeed! Splitting by reported brightness, we found a effect in synesthetes (much less in controls): dark synesthetic color = pupil dilation, bright = pupil constriction
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
We then took the brightness of each reported color to predict the pupil response to the (physically) nothing but gray number. And indeed! Splitting by reported brightness, we found a effect in synesthetes (much less in controls): dark synesthetic color = pupil dilation, bright = pupil constriction
We tested 16 number-color synesthetes and two matched control groups. Asking for the most closely associated color per trial of presenting a digit in the screen center, synesthetes give more consistent color reports (in line with synesthesia literature).
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
We tested 16 number-color synesthetes and two matched control groups. Asking for the most closely associated color per trial of presenting a digit in the screen center, synesthetes give more consistent color reports (in line with synesthesia literature).
Synesthetes claim sensory experiences, such as seeing color when reading or hearing a (black) number.
But how genuine are these reports and sensations? We introduce a rather direct measure of synesthetic perception: Synesthetes’ pupils respond to evoked color as if it was real color #vision! 👁️🎨🧪
November 26, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Synesthetes claim sensory experiences, such as seeing color when reading or hearing a (black) number.
But how genuine are these reports and sensations? We introduce a rather direct measure of synesthetic perception: Synesthetes’ pupils respond to evoked color as if it was real color #vision! 👁️🎨🧪
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
Celebration time 🥳 @liangyouzhang.bsky.social publishes the 1st empirical paper of his PhD!
We show that numerosity adaptation (a seemingly high-level stim property) suppresses neural responses in early visual cortex; these adaptation FX increase as we progress thru the visual processing hierarchy.
We show that numerosity adaptation (a seemingly high-level stim property) suppresses neural responses in early visual cortex; these adaptation FX increase as we progress thru the visual processing hierarchy.
Numerosity adaptation suppresses monotonic neural responses to numerosity displays in the early visual cortex, with more suppression for higher numerosity adaptors. Therefore, numerosity adaptation effects begin in early sensory stages of processing.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Numerosity adaptation suppresses early visual responses - Communications Biology
Numerosity adaptation suppresses monotonic neural responses to numerosity displays in the early visual cortex, with more suppression for higher numerosity adaptors. Therefore, numerosity adaptation ef...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Celebration time 🥳 @liangyouzhang.bsky.social publishes the 1st empirical paper of his PhD!
We show that numerosity adaptation (a seemingly high-level stim property) suppresses neural responses in early visual cortex; these adaptation FX increase as we progress thru the visual processing hierarchy.
We show that numerosity adaptation (a seemingly high-level stim property) suppresses neural responses in early visual cortex; these adaptation FX increase as we progress thru the visual processing hierarchy.
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
Most of you know @suryagayet.bsky.social as a successful visual-attention researcher. But he also had an active #music career as a #rap artist. And like Jay-Z before him, he has briefly come out of retirement with a new album. Check it out—it's very good! 🎤🎶 open.spotify.com/album/7HrnAB...
Drijfzand
open.spotify.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Most of you know @suryagayet.bsky.social as a successful visual-attention researcher. But he also had an active #music career as a #rap artist. And like Jay-Z before him, he has briefly come out of retirement with a new album. Check it out—it's very good! 🎤🎶 open.spotify.com/album/7HrnAB...
Very proud of @dkoevoet.bsky.social's latest piece now accepted in Journal of Neuroscience, together with student Vicky Voet, Stefan van der @stigchel.bsky.social (all @attentionlab.bsky.social Utrecht) and Henry Jones & Ed Awh from Uni of Chicago.
Filled with a bunch of extra analyses, this is now accepted in The Journal of Neuroscience @sfn.org! You can have a sneak peak here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 24, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Very proud of @dkoevoet.bsky.social's latest piece now accepted in Journal of Neuroscience, together with student Vicky Voet, Stefan van der @stigchel.bsky.social (all @attentionlab.bsky.social Utrecht) and Henry Jones & Ed Awh from Uni of Chicago.
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
If you are looking, or know someone who is looking - please forward them!
I'm open to discuss the topic, but o.c. many ideas!!
I'm open to discuss the topic, but o.c. many ideas!!
S-CCS Lab PhD Position
3+2 year 100% TVL-13 position in '26 - open topic on the intersection of combined EEG-EyeTracking, Statistical Methods, Cognitive Modelling, VR/Mobile EEG, Vision ...
Apply via Max-Planck IMPRS-IS program until 2025-11-16 imprs.is.mpg.de
Read: www.s-ccs.de/philosophy
3+2 year 100% TVL-13 position in '26 - open topic on the intersection of combined EEG-EyeTracking, Statistical Methods, Cognitive Modelling, VR/Mobile EEG, Vision ...
Apply via Max-Planck IMPRS-IS program until 2025-11-16 imprs.is.mpg.de
Read: www.s-ccs.de/philosophy
October 23, 2025 at 11:22 AM
If you are looking, or know someone who is looking - please forward them!
I'm open to discuss the topic, but o.c. many ideas!!
I'm open to discuss the topic, but o.c. many ideas!!
Absolutely, reanalysis wizard he is!
October 17, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Absolutely, reanalysis wizard he is!
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
Spatial attention and working memory are popularly thought to be tightly coupled. Yet, distinct neural activity tracks attentional breadth and WM load.
In a new paper @jocn.bsky.social, we show that pupil size independently tracks breadth and load.
doi.org/10.1162/JOCN...
In a new paper @jocn.bsky.social, we show that pupil size independently tracks breadth and load.
doi.org/10.1162/JOCN...
October 14, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Spatial attention and working memory are popularly thought to be tightly coupled. Yet, distinct neural activity tracks attentional breadth and WM load.
In a new paper @jocn.bsky.social, we show that pupil size independently tracks breadth and load.
doi.org/10.1162/JOCN...
In a new paper @jocn.bsky.social, we show that pupil size independently tracks breadth and load.
doi.org/10.1162/JOCN...
I'm still waiting for you to write that package that recovers pupil size from mri recordings - gotta find a way to make all that fmri data useful ;-)
September 25, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I'm still waiting for you to write that package that recovers pupil size from mri recordings - gotta find a way to make all that fmri data useful ;-)
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
Incredible study by Raut et al.: by tracking a single measure (pupil size), you can model slow, large-scale dynamics in neuronal calcium, metabolism, and brain blood oxygen through a shared latent space! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 25, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Incredible study by Raut et al.: by tracking a single measure (pupil size), you can model slow, large-scale dynamics in neuronal calcium, metabolism, and brain blood oxygen through a shared latent space! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I'll show some (I think) cool stuff about how we can measure the phenomenology of synesthesia in a physiological way at #ECVP - Color II, atrium maximum, 9:15, Thursday.
say hi and show your colleagues that you're one of the dedicated ones by getting up early on the last day!
say hi and show your colleagues that you're one of the dedicated ones by getting up early on the last day!
#ECVP2025 starts with a fully packed room!
I'll show data, demonstrating that synesthetic perception is perceptual, automatic, and effortless.
Join my talk (Thursday, early morning.., Color II) to learn how the qualia of synesthesia can be inferred from pupil size.
Join and (or) say hi!
I'll show data, demonstrating that synesthetic perception is perceptual, automatic, and effortless.
Join my talk (Thursday, early morning.., Color II) to learn how the qualia of synesthesia can be inferred from pupil size.
Join and (or) say hi!
August 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
I'll show some (I think) cool stuff about how we can measure the phenomenology of synesthesia in a physiological way at #ECVP - Color II, atrium maximum, 9:15, Thursday.
say hi and show your colleagues that you're one of the dedicated ones by getting up early on the last day!
say hi and show your colleagues that you're one of the dedicated ones by getting up early on the last day!
Reposted by Christoph Strauch
A good reason to make it to the early #visualcognition session of today's #ecvp2025 👉 @anavili.bsky.social will talk about how attending to fuzzy bright/dark patches that have faded from awareness (through adaptation-like processes) still affect pupil size! ⚫👀⚪ Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
Redirecting
dx.doi.org
August 27, 2025 at 5:45 AM
A good reason to make it to the early #visualcognition session of today's #ecvp2025 👉 @anavili.bsky.social will talk about how attending to fuzzy bright/dark patches that have faded from awareness (through adaptation-like processes) still affect pupil size! ⚫👀⚪ Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.co...