MULTI-MODAL INTERACTIONS IN SPATIAL PERCEPTION

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）： 这项研究计划是为了阐明皮质对空间的贡献， perception.这项提议的实验专门针对大脑皮层 处理视觉，听觉，以及视觉和听觉刺激的组合 灵长类动物视觉系统强烈地调节对空间和 时间上不同的视觉和听觉刺激。在某些情况下，对于 例如，当空间和时间差异很小时， 能够“捕捉”听觉刺激的感知位置，从而产生 对多刺激对象的统一认识。在不同的情况下， 例如，当空间和时间差异大时， 系统不能捕获听觉刺激的感知位置， 因此，这个概念是两个不同的对象。虽然这些感性的 错觉已经被广泛了解和研究，这些错觉的神经基础 目前，人们对这些观念了解甚少。 整个大脑皮层和上级丘的神经元 被描述为对一种以上的刺激形式作出反应。然而，这些 多感觉神经元有助于多模态刺激的空间感知， 也不清楚。这在很大程度上是由于缺乏对这些神经系统的研究。 对它们引起的空间感知的反应。更清楚 理解真实的世界物体的不同刺激属性 被中枢神经系统整合， 导致对真实的世界的统一认识的信息对于 我们对感觉处理的皮层机制的理解。 这些实验将直接解决空间的神经机制， 通过利用相互作用感知多模态刺激 视觉和听觉刺激之间的联系单神经元 活动将在视觉和听觉刺激存在的条件下定义 在同一地点同时出现，以及在 其中两种刺激模态在空间和/或时间上是不同的。这些 神经元的反应将与所产生的感知相关。 刺激位置通过使用刺激差异， 对单一双感官物体的感知，以及对两个不同物体的感知， 位置，神经元活动和感知之间的直接关系 可以导出。因此，这些实验将直接解决这一问题 感知的基本过程。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's abstract): The long term objectives of this research program are to elucidate the cortical contributions to spatial perception. The experiments of this proposal specifically address the cortical processing of visual, auditory, and combined visual and auditory stimuli in the primate. The visual system strongly modulates the perception of spatially and temporally disparate visual and auditory stimuli. Under some circumstances, for example when spatial and temporal disparities are small, visual stimuli are able to 'capture' the perceived location of auditory stimuli, giving rise to a unified percept of the multi-stimulus object. Under different circumstances, for example when the spatial and temporal disparities are large, the visual system is not able to capture the perceived location of the auditory stimulus, and therefore the percept is of two distinct objects. Although these perceptual illusions have been known and studied extensively, the neural basis of these perceptions is currently poorly understood. Neurons throughout the cerebral cortex and the superior colliculus have been described to respond to more than one stimulus modality. However, how these poly-sensory neurons contribute to spatial perception of multi-modal stimuli is also unclear. This is due largely to the lack of investigation of these neural responses with respect to the spatial perceptions elicited by them. A clearer understanding of how the different stimulus attributes of real world objects are integrated by the central nervous system, and ultimately process information that result in a unified percept of the real world, is critical to our understanding of the cortical mechanisms of sensory processing in general. These experiments will directly address the neuronal mechanisms of spatial perception of multi-modal stimuli by taking advantage of the interactions between visual and auditory stimuli in these perceptions. Single neuron activity will be defined under conditions where visual and auditory stimuli are simultaneously presented from the same location, as well as under conditions where the two stimulus modalities are disparate in space and/or time. These neuronal responses will be correlated with the resulting perception of the stimulus location. By using stimulus disparities that lead to both unified percepts of single bi-sensory objects, as well as perceptions of two distinct locations, a direct relationship between the neuronal activity and perception can be derived. These experiments will therefore directly address this fundamental process of sensory perception.