Introduction: From Photography to Neuroscience

Neuroscience and perception are often reduced to what we see with the eyes, but perception begins much earlier and runs much deeper. The eyes may gather light, but it’s the brain and body that decide what it means. Even those with altered or limited vision still perceive the world richly through sound, sensation, memory, and emotional tone.

My earliest understanding of this came through the camera and my love for photography. I was fascinated by how the lens, aperture, and shutter mimicked the human eye, yet revealed new ways of seeing. I’d adjust the focus and realize the story wasn’t always in what was sharp. Sometimes the blur in the foreground said just as much, creating that cinematic depth I loved. It made me wonder: is that how the mind works, too? Always choosing where to place focus, what to soften, and what to let linger just outside the edges of awareness?

Over time, I noticed something else. The same place could feel completely different depending on my internal state. A cala I loved ten years ago in Ibiza felt strangely off when I returned yesterday and I thought, “What made this place so special to me before?” My childhood bedroom might appear warm or cold depending on how safe I felt inside myself. The environment hadn’t changed, but my perception had. I always say, you never arrive at the same place twice. Either you’ve changed, or the place has.

For artists and creatives, understanding how perception works is a kind of superpower. It sharpens attention, deepens presence, and opens the door to creating work that resonates. Because what we make begins with how we truly see.

Let’s dive in.

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What Is Perception, Really?

Perception is the process by which the brain interprets sensory information to create an internal model of the world. It begins with signals from the senses ie, light hitting the retina, sound waves reaching the ear, tactile input from the skin, but those signals mean nothing on their own. The brain organizes, filters, and gives meaning to them based on context, memory, and experience. What we perceive is not a direct reflection of external reality, but a constructed interpretation shaped by what the brain has learned to expect.

Cognitive bias plays a big role here. These are mental shortcuts your brain uses to simplify the world, often without your awareness. For example, confirmation bias makes you notice what supports your existing beliefs. Attentional bias pulls your focus toward certain details while filtering out others. The availability heuristic is when your brain relies on the first example that comes to mind, often something recent or emotionally vivid. If you’ve just scrolled past a popular photo of a minimalist interior, you might start believing that simplicity is the most beautiful design approach, even if that’s not your true preference.

These patterns shape how we process visual input, often reinforcing what we expect to see instead of what’s actually there.

Neuroscientist Anil Seth describes this process as a “controlled hallucination” (Seth, 80000 Hours Podcast) – the brain making predictions and filling in the gaps based on what it already knows. This is called predictive processing. Your mind is constantly anticipating what comes next and adjusting your perception in real time.

That’s why two people can look at the same image and walk away with completely different interpretations. One sees beauty. Another sees discomfort. One registers a threat. The other sees potential.

Perception is the brain actively interpreting the world through everything it has already stored.

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the brain regions deep dive

Visual Cortex

• Role: Processes visual input from the eyes—edges, contrast, color, motion, depth.
• Variations: Generally similar across people, but influenced by visual training (artists, designers), disorders (like cortical blindness), or developmental changes.

Amygdala (Emotion Tagging)

• Role: Adds emotional “charge” to what you see.
• Variations:
  • Overactive amygdala: More prone to seeing threat or danger in neutral images (common in anxiety, PTSD).
  • Underactive: Less emotional resonance – can reduce sense of beauty, awe, or urgency.

Hippocampus (Memory Integration)

• Role: Connects current visual input to past experiences.
• Variations:
  • Impaired memory (ie, from trauma, aging, or substance use) weakens this bridge, resulting in less nuanced perception.
  • Strong memory can enrich perception with meaning, nostalgia, or context.

Prefrontal Cortex (Attention + Meaning)

• Role: Filters what matters, organizes focus, regulates response.
• Variations:
  • Dysregulation (common with ADHD, chronic stress, or substance use) can make perception fragmented or overly reactive.
  • Highly trained focus sharpens what is noticed, making perception more intentional and detailed.

So… does perception change with brain chemistry or medication?

Yes. Altered memory, emotional regulation, or attention fundamentally shift what is seen and how it’s interpreted. Someone on antidepressants might notice less emotional weight in imagery. A person recovering from trauma might unconsciously filter for safety cues. And a creative in a highly regulated state may perceive with greater nuance and subtlety than someone overstimulated or dysregulated.

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The Artist’s Role

The brain sorts, filters, and shapes what we notice based on memory, mood, and attention. This makes every visual experience deeply personal even when the subject is the same.

What we create reflects not only what was in front of us, but also how we experienced it.

Understanding the neuroscience of perception gives us more agency as creatives. That means greater awareness, more choice, and the ability to shape how we respond to what we see. In creative work, agency is the freedom to notice, interpret, and express with intention.

It allows us to:

• Tune into what our audience might feel
• Use contrast, color, and composition to guide attention
• Create resonance through visual familiarity or disruption

This is about using the language of the brain to say what words cannot.

This also applies in branding and content design. A brand’s visual language holds influence. It shapes how someone feels. Subtle elements like spacing, contrast, pacing, and consistency shape perception before we’re aware of it.

I felt this while walking through the narrow alleys of Islamic Cairo. The rhythm of archways brought calm. The texture of carved doors, the pattern of shadow and light through the burning frankincense, and the tall minarets of the mosques – there was a subtle order to it all.

These were more than aesthetic details. My nervous system recognized the coherence. That’s the power of visual harmony as it reaches the body first.

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Seeing Is an Act of Becoming

The more you understand that perception is shaped by your body, your brain, and your history, the more freedom you have to shift it. Learn more about the potential of reframing in my original manifesto, Shifting Perspectives.

You don’t just see what’s there. You see what you’re ready to receive! This is where the allure of beauty lives, not as something imposed, but as something perceived. I explore this more deeply in my entry called, The Allure of Beauty.

And that, in itself, is a creative act.

If this resonated, join my newsletter for more reflections on perception, creativity, and the emotional language of beauty. You’ll also receive early access to workshops, offerings, and behind-the-scenes studio notes.

x

Anna

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Further Readings & Citations

• Tong, Frank. “Visual Consciousness and the Neural Basis of Perception.” Wikipedia | Vanderbilt Research
• Seth, Anil. “Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality.” TED Talk
• Cowart, Jeremy. The Light We Let In. TEDx Talk
• Predictive coding – theory of brain perception hierarchies.
• Neural binding and visual consciousness.
• Two-streams hypothesis – distinction between “what” vs. “how” visual pathways.