The Neural Basis of Perception
The Neural Basis of Perception
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感知的神经基础
DOI：
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发表时间：
1983
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
D. Ottoson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Ottoson
感觉器官可以被认为是我们用来测量外部世界的物理和化学性质的仪器。因此，大脑接收的信息取决于这些仪器的特性。虽然我们的大多数感官都具有精致的灵敏度、高分辨率和广泛的测量范围，但它们仍然不能传达对外部世界的准确再现。不同感觉通道中的信息经过加工，可能会受到不同程度的抑制，最终到达大脑皮层的终点站。因此，大脑皮层接收到的信息是否忠实地再现了从感觉器官发出的原始信号，这一点还远未确定。此外，不同的感觉通道在大脑中有非常不同的表示。例如，在低等脊椎动物中，嗅觉系统占主导地位；在这些物种中，许多人对外部世界的感知可能完全由嗅觉主导。随着大脑皮层，特别是联合中枢的日益发育，嗅觉优势逐渐减弱。在人类和高等灵长类动物中，气味扮演着相对次要的角色；占主导地位的是视觉感觉。我们的世界是一个由形状、颜色和轮廓组成的世界，而大多数动物生活在一个充满气味的世界。
Sensory organs may be considered as instruments with which we measure the physical and chemical properties of the outer world. Consequently the information received by the brain depends upon the properties of these instruments. Although most of our sense organs have exquisite sensitivity, high resolution and a wide measuring range, they nonetheless do not convey an exact reproduction of the outer world. The information in different sensory channels undergoes processing and may be subjected to inhibition at several levels before finally reaching its end station in the cerebral cortex. It is consequently far from certain that the message received by the cerebral cortex faithfully reproduces the original signals evoked from the sense organs. In addition, the various sensory channels have very different representations in the brain. In lower vertebrates, for example, the olfactory system predominates; in many of these species the perception of the outer world may be totally dominated by olfactory sensations. With increasing development of the cortex and particularly of associative centres, olfactory predominance decreases. In man and higher primates, smell plays a relatively subordinate role; it is visual sensations that dominate. Ours is a world of forms, colours and contours, whereas most animals live in a world of odours.