Daniel Kaiser

Short info

My research focuses on visual perception in real-world contexts. I study how natural objects and scenes are perceived and represented in the brain, and how processing depends on statistical regularities in the world. I am also interested in the top-down control of visual processing and the neural correlates of person perception.

In my research, I combine methods from experimental psychology with brain imaging (fMRI, EEG), and computational modelling. This multi-modal approach allows for tracking the dynamic construction of neural representations that are adaptive for natural behavior. 

Open Science

Carter, A., & Kaiser, D. (2023).
An object numbering task reveals an underestimation of complexity for typically structured scenes.
PsyArXiv Preprints

Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2023).
Coherent categorical information triggers integration-related alpha dynamics.
bioRxiv, 2023-12.

Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Representational shifts from feedforward to feedback rhythms index phenomenological integration in naturalistic vision.
bioRxiv preprint 2024-09.

Foxwell, M.J.*, Wang, G.*, Cichy, R.M., Pitcher, D., Kaiser, D. (2023). *contributed equally
Individual differences in internal models explain idiosyncrasies in scene perception.
PsyArXiv Preprints

Gao, X., Yang, J., Li, C., Guo, X., Wang, Y., Qu, Z., ... & Yuan, B. (2024).
How do we imagine a speech? A triple network model for situationally simulated inner speech.
bioRxiv preprint ,2024-07.

Goupil, N., Kaiser, D., Papeo, L. (2023).
Category-specific effects of high-level relations in visual search.
OSF preprint

Goupil, N., Kaiser, D., Papeo, L. (2023).
Alpha-frequency feedback to early visual cortex orchestrates coherent natural vision.
bioRxiv preprint

Kaiser, D. (2022).
Spectral brain signatures of aesthetic natural perception in the alpha and beta frequency bands.
bioRxiv preprint

Kaiser, D., Stecher, R., Dörschner-Boyaci, K. (2023).
EEG decoding reveals neural predictions for naturalistic material behaviors.
bioRxiv preprint

Kiniklioglu, M., & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Characterizing Surround Suppression with Dynamic Natural Scenes.
bioRxiv preprint: 2025-08.

Klink H., Kaiser D., Stecher R., Ambrus GG*, Kovács G*. (submitted). *contributed equally
Your place or mine? The neural dynamics of personally familiar scene recognition suggests category independent familiarity encoding.
bioRxiv preprint

Lu Z*, Doerig A*, Bosch V*, Krahmer B, Kaiser D*, Cichy RM*, Kietzmann TC*. *contributed equally (submitted).
End-to-end topographic networks as models of cortical map formation and human visual behaviour: moving beyond convolutions.
arXiv preprint

Nara S., Kaiser D. (2023).
Integrative processing in artificial and biological vision predicts the perceived beauty of natural images.
bioRxiv preprint

Nara, S., Becker, L., Hillebrand, L., Xiang, R., & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Dynamic neural representations of scene beauty are relatively unaffected by stimulus timing and task.
bioRxiv, 2025-04.

Pitcher, D., Sliwinska, M.W., Kaiser, D. (2023).
TMS disruption of the lateral prefrontal cortex increases neural activity in the default mode network when naming facial expressions.
bioRxiv preprint

Stecher, R., & Kaiser, D. (2023).
Imaginary scenes are represented in cortical alpha activity.
bioRxiv, 2023-10.

Stecher, R., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Decoding the contents of visual brain rhythms.
Researchgate preprint

Wang, G., Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Enhanced and idiosyncratic neural representations of personally typical scenes.
bioRxiv preprint ,2024-07.

Xie, S., Singer, J. J., Yilmaz, B., Kaiser, D., & Cichy, R. M. (2024).
The representational nature of spatio-temporal recurrent processing in visual object recognition.
bioRxiv preprint ,2024-07.

Yeh, L. C., Bardelang, M., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Cortical alpha rhythms interpolate occluded motion from natural scene context.
bioRxiv preprint, 2024-10.

Articles

Carter, A. A., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
An object numbering task reveals an underestimation of complexity for typically structured scenes.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1-10.

Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2023).
Alpha-frequency feedback to early visual cortex orchestrates coherent naturalistic vision.
Science Advances, 9(45), eadi2321.

Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Coherent categorical information triggers integration-related alpha dynamics.
Journal of Neurophysiology.

Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Representational shifts from feedforward to feedback rhythms index phenomenological integration in naturalistic vision.
Communications Biology, 8(1), 576.

Engeser, M., Ajith, S., Duymaz, I., Wang, G., Foxwell, M. J., Cichy, R. M., ... & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Characterizing internal models of the visual environment.
Proceedings B, 292(2053), 20250602.

Goupil, N., Kaiser, D., & Papeo, L. (2025).
Category-specific effects of high-level relations in visual search.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.

Kaiser, D. (2022).
Characterizing dynamic neural representations of scene attractiveness.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 34(10), 1988-1997.

Klink, H., Kaiser, D., Stecher, R., Ambrus, G. G., & Kovács, G. (2023).
Your place or mine? The neural dynamics of personally familiar scene recognition suggests category independent familiarity encoding.
Cerebral Cortex, 33:11634–11645.

Küçük, E., Foxwell, M., Kaiser, D., & Pitcher, D. (2024).
Moving and Static Faces, Bodies, Objects, and Scenes Are Differentially Represented across the Three Visual Pathways.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1-13.

Lu, Z., Doerig, A., Bosch, V., Krahmer, B., Kaiser, D., Cichy, R. M., & Kietzmann, T. C. (2025).
End-to-end topographic networks as models of cortical map formation and human visual behaviour.
Nature Human Behaviour, 1-17.

Lu, Z., Doerig, A., Bosch, V., Krahmer, B., Kaiser, D., Cichy, R. M., & Kietzmann, T. C. (2025).
End-to-end topographic networks as models of cortical map formation and human visual behaviour.
Nature Human Behaviour, 1-17.

Nara, S., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Integrative processing in artificial and biological vision predicts the perceived beauty of natural images.
Science Advances, 10(9), eadi9294.

Stecher, R., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Representations of imaginary scenes and their properties in cortical alpha activity.
Scientific Reports, 14(1), 12796.

Stecher, R., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Decoding the rhythmic representation and communication of visual contents.
Trends in Neurosciences, 48(3), 178-188.

Wang, G., Chen, L., Cichy, R. M., & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Enhanced and idiosyncratic neural representations of personally typical scenes.
Proceedings B, 292(2043), 20250272.

Wang, G., Foxwell, M. J., Cichy, R. M., Pitcher, D., & Kaiser, D. (2024).
Individual differences in internal models explain idiosyncrasies in scene perception.
Cognition, 245, 105723.

Xie, S., Singer, J., Yilmaz, B., Kaiser, D., & Cichy, R. M. (2025).
Recurrence affects the geometry of visual representations across the ventral visual stream in the human brain.
PLoS biology, 23(8), e3003354.

Yeh, L. C., Bardelang, M., & Kaiser, D. (2025).
Cortical alpha rhythms interpolate occluded motion from natural scene context.
Journal of Neurophysiology, 133(5), 1497-1502.