Prof. Tsao is a systems neuroscientist interested in the neural mechanisms underlying primate vision. The central problems she aims to understand is how visual objects are represented in the brain, and how these representations are used to guide behavior.  To address this, her lab is investigating mechanisms at multiple stages in the visual hierarchy, from early processes for segmenting visual input into discrete objects, to mid- and high-level perceptual processes for assigning meaningful identity to specific objects, to processes by which these perceptual representations govern behavior.  Techniques her lab uses include electrophysiology, fMRI, electro microstimulation, anatomical tracing, psychophysics and mathematical modeling.