معرفی
Hongjin Sun is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University's Faculty of Science. With active scholarly output through 2025, Sun leads research in visual attention and 3D spatial processing, particularly examining how the brain processes peripheral visual information across depth planes. Current teaching responsibilities include Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (PNB 3MM3) and Neuroscience of Learning and Memory (PSYCH 3FA3).
Research focuses on three core areas: (1) 3D attentional mechanisms - investigating how attention distributes across near/far space using simulated driving tasks and virtual environments; (2) Contextual cueing dynamics - exploring how prior context guides visual search through eye movement studies; (3) Perceptual neuroscience - examining neural correlates of body posture recognition and multisensory integration. Recent work demonstrates the brain's ability to maintain peripheral threat detection while focused on central tasks.
Analysis of 2023-2025 publications reveals increasing emphasis on
- Depth-specific attentional modulation (12 articles)
- Behavioral relevance effects on attention (9 articles)
- Integration of reward history with statistical learning (7 articles)
Sun's scholarly impact is evidenced by extensive Mendeley readership (213 readers for key 2011 paper) and media coverage including 7 news outlets and 3 videos highlighting the 'peripheral vision threat detection' research.
Teaching activities show consistent leadership in advanced neuroscience courses since 2017, with recent development of Contemporary Problems in Psychology (PSYCH 720) seminars addressing current issues in visual cognition and attentional disorders.
