Dr. Behrmann is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychology/Neuroscience Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Widely considered to be a worldwide leader in the field of visual cognition, she was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 2015 and into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.
- University of Toronto, PhD in Psychology
- Birkbeck College, University of London, British Council Fellowship
- University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, MA in Speech Pathology, Cum Laude
- University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, BA in Speech and Hearing Therapy, Cum Laude
Education & Training
Dr. Marlene Behrmann's research specializes in the cognitive basis of visual perception, with a specific focus on word, face, and object recognition. She is also interested in understanding the integrity and function of the visual cortex in individuals with blindness. The research in her lab focuses on understanding the psychological processes and neural mechanisms of cognitive abilities such as object and face recognition, mental imagery, reading and writing, and spatial attention. We study the behavior of adults who have suffered brain damage that selectively affects their ability to carry out these processes to make inferences about the functional and structural organization of the brain. We also conduct rehabilitation studies to treat the observed deficits and gain insights into the mechanisms underlying visual cognition.