Michael Arcaro

Assistant Professor
B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy, Boston University
Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience, Princeton University
Office Location: 
Room 422, Goddard Lab, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Research Interests: 
Sensation and Perception
Developmental Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience

 

Specific Research Areas:

Mammalian vision, development of sensory systems

Research Synopsis:

The mammalian brain is composed of a rich mosaic of regions that vary in their cyto- and chemo-architecture, anatomical connectivity, and functional response properties. This complex architecture supports perception, but it also reflects perception – it is shaped by our experience of the world. How does our environment guide neural development, and how does the emerging neural architecture support perception and behavior? Our research combines neuroimaging, visual psychophysics, and electrophysiology to understand how intrinsic and experience-driven processes interact throughout development to shape brain organization and behavior.  Our current focus is on neural development supporting visual object recognition across mammalian species.

Professor Michael Arcaro will be considering new graduate students for admission for Fall 2025.

 

Selected Publications: 

Arcaro MJ & Livingstone MS (2024) A whole-brain topographic ontology. Annual Reviews Neuroscience

Scott LS & Arcaro MJ (2023) A domain-relevant framework for the development of face processing. Nature Reviews Psychology

Arcaro MJ & Livingstone MS (2021) On the relationship between maps and domains in inferotemporal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

Arcaro MJ, Mautz T, Berezovskii V, Livingstone MS (2020) Anatomical correlates of face patches in macaque inferotemporal cortex. PNAS.

Arcaro MJ, Ponce CR, Livingstone MS (2020) The neurons that mistook a hat for a face. eLIFE.

Arcaro MJ, Schade PF, Livingstone MS (2019) Universal mechanisms and the development of the face network: what you see is what you get. Annual Review of Vision Science. 

Arcaro MJ, Schade PF, Livingstone MS (2019) Body-map proto-organization in newborn macaques. PNAS.

Arcaro MJ, Pinsk MA, Chen J, Kastner S. (2018) Organizing principles of pulvino-cortical coupling in humans. Nature Communications.

Arcaro MJ, Thaler L, Quinlan DJ, Monaco S, Khan S, Valyear KF, Goebel R, Dutton GN, Goodale MA, Kastner S, Culham JC. (2018) Psychophysical and neuroimaging responses to moving stimuli in a patient with the Riddoch phenomenon due to bilateral visual cortex lesions. Neuropsychologia.

Arcaro MJ, Schade PF, Vincent JL, Ponce CR, Livingstone MS. (2017) Seeing faces is necessary for face-patch formation. Nature Neuroscience.

Arcaro MJ & Livingstone MS. (2017) A hierarchical, retinotopic proto-organization of the primate visual system at birth. eLIFE.