Visual encounter

The student dons a red and blue skullcap studded with electrodes. She sits before a monitor inside a sealed chamber as images of human faces, motorcycles and church sanctuaries flash before her eyes. Just outside, researchers are locked into her brain waves, which light up their computers.

Things are humming in Wright State University’s new cognitive neuroscience lab, a state-of-the-art facility that promises to unlock the mysteries of how the human brain interprets visual images. Potential applications range from treating dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to training