Boynton, Geoffrey MChang, Kelly2023-01-212023-01-212023-01-212022Chang_washington_0250E_24968.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/49749Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2022Topographical organization is a foundation principle of human sensory cortices where the sensory neurons encode information from the physical world into orderly representational maps along sensory-specific dimensions. The visual system encodes spatial positions of the visual field, and the auditory system encodes the frequency of sounds. The representational maps are known as retinotopy and tonotopy, respectively. The population receptive field (pRF) model is a computational framework used to characterize the functional organization of sensory cortices. It is a popular method and has various applications in human neuroimaging research. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how the pRF model can be used to investigate various research interests. First, I use the pRF model as an encoding and decoding model of frequency in primary auditory cortex. Second, I examine neural plasticity in auditory cortex due to long-term visual deprivation by comparing pRF estimates of early blind individuals with normally sighted individuals. Third, I develop a novel stimulus protocol that increases reliability and minimize biases in pRF estimates of human visual cortex. Together, these studies demonstrate the applications of the pRF model as a powerful tool capable of understanding a wide range of phenomena in human sensory cortices.application/pdfen-USCC BYfMRIpopulation receptive fieldretinotopytonotopyPsychologyPsychologyThesis