MULTI-MODAL INTERACTIONS IN SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PERCEPTION

描述(申请人提供)：在现实世界中，对象和事件包含多个刺激属性。它们发射或反射光，发出声音，并具有特有的质量和触觉特性。虽然神经系统最初通过专门的感受器传递有限部分的能量来独立处理每种感觉模式，但这些信息最终会在神经系统的更高端结合起来，产生统一的感知。尽管这是感官系统的一个基本过程，但人们对来自不同感官系统的信息是如何组合的，以及这种整合如何导致对单个物体和事件的感知了解得很少。探索多感觉整合过程的一种方法是比较单个神经元对组合感觉刺激产生的感知的反应。通过比较物理刺激和由此产生的知觉之间的神经元反应，一个人可以开始阐明这种知觉的潜在神经机制。人们可以通过利用产生错误感知的刺激，即错觉来进一步检验这些假设。这项研究项目的目标是探索大脑皮层中的单个神经元如何将视觉和听觉信息结合在一起。具体地说，我们希望确定多感觉刺激是在大脑皮层传统上被认为是“单模式”的区域处理的，还是直到传统上被认为是“多模式”的区域才发生多感觉整合。我们将使用在时间和空间领域产生知觉错觉的组合听觉和视觉刺激来探索神经元在哪里对刺激的物理特征做出最好的反应(例如在感觉受体中)，以及在哪里对我们所有人都经历的由此产生的知觉做出最好的反应。通过跟踪大脑皮层的这些反应，我们将开始了解这些整合过程是如何以及在哪里发生的。这些见解将为理解复杂的感知和认知能力提供基石。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In real world situations, objects and event comprise multiple stimulus attributes. They emit or reflect light, make sounds, and have characteristic mass and tactile properties. While the nervous system initially processes each sensory modality independently by transducing a restricted portion of energy by specialized receptors, this information is ultimately combined at higher stations of the nervous system to generate unified percepts. Even though this is a fundamental process of sensory systems, very little is understood how information from different sensory systems is combined, and how this integrations results in the perception of single objects and events. One way in which the processes of multi-sensory integration can be explored is to compare the responses of single neurons to the perceptions generated by combined sensory stimuli. By comparing the neuronal responses between the physical stimuli and the resulting perceptions, one can begin to elucidate the underlying neuronal mechanisms of that perception. One can further test these hypotheses by taking advantage of stimuli that generate faulty perceptions, i.e. illusions. The goals of this research project are to explore how single neurons in the cerebral cortex combine visual and auditory information. Specifically, we wish to determine if multi-sensory stimuli are processed in regions of the cerebral cortex that are traditionally considered to be 'unimodal', or if multi-sensory integration does not occur until the traditionally considered 'multi-modal' areas. We will use combined auditory and visual stimuli that generate perceptual illusions in both the temporal and spatial domain to explore where neurons respond best to the physical characteristics of the stimuli (such as in the sensory receptors) and where neurons respond best to the resulting perceptions that we all experience. By tracking these responses throughout the cortical hierarchy we will begin to understand how and where these integrative processes take place. These insights will provide a cornerstone for understanding complex perceptions and cognitive ability.