Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar Series: Perceptual and Mnemonic Interaction

Abstract: Adam Steel investigates how perceptual and mnemonic information dynamically interact to support natural behaviors. For example, during navigation, individuals continuously exchange information between their current perceptions and memory of the surrounding environment. Steel's research addresses the neural mechanisms enabling this interaction in the domain of visual scenes, using fMRI. First, he identifies a topographic dissociation between brain areas supporting the perception and memory of scenes. Specifically, scene-memory-related brain areas are located anterior and adjacent to areas involved in scene perception. These memory areas selectively co-fluctuate with the hippocampus during naturalistic scene understanding, forming a bridge between perceptual and visuospatial representations. Second, combining fMRI with immersive virtual reality, Steel demonstrates that these scene-memory areas uniquely process the extent of known visuospatial context outside of the current view, suggesting a role in jointly representing perceptual and mnemonic information. Finally, his work shows that retinotopy—a low-level coding mechanism—scaffolds the interaction between scene-perception and memory areas. Retinotopic populations in these areas exhibit retinotopically-specific opponent responses during bottom-up perception and top-down recall. Together, Steel's studies provide a novel framework for understanding how perceptual and mnemonic information coexist and interact in the brain, highlighting the role of perceptually grounded neural codes in structuring interregional interactions beyond the sensory cortex.

Bio: Adam Steel, PhD, joined the Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Professor in January 2025. His research investigates how the human brain represents and processes visual information, focusing on scene perception, spatial memory, and the interaction between these cognitive processes using a combination of behavioral studies, neuroimaging, and computational approaches. Steel completed his postdoctoral training at Dartmouth College, where he worked with Caroline Robertson studying the neural mechanisms of scene perception and memory. His innovative research has revealed fundamental principles about how the brain organizes visual information and has been published in leading journals including Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, and Current Biology. Before his postdoctoral work, Steel earned his D.Phil. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Oxford as an NIH-Oxford/Cambridge Scholar, working with Dr. Chris Baker (NIH) and Professor Charlotte Stagg (Oxford). He received his BA with honors in Neuroscience and English Composition from Vassar College.

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