Iconocast Logo

Welcome To Iconocast

blank

Recent News on the Keywords, could help + article date + study , Related to the Article Below:

Researchers dig for why people move to Panhandle
News Net Nebraska, NE - Apr 25, 2008
The researchers hope the article will be published in a journal, Johnson said. The end date for this study is June 2008. The researchers have applied for a ...
Inflation sinks millions deeper into poverty
Independent Online, South Africa - Apr 26, 2008
Despite a slight complaint about knee pain, she looks younger than the 1914 birth date on her ID book. Baloyi runs a four-person household on her R940 ...
CCHE's future a toss-up?
Colorado Daily, CO - Apr 23, 2008
This could lead to the need for a constitutional amendment ballot issue in the future, since Article IX of the state constitution spells out issues ...
Physical Activity Counseling Effective in Improving Patients ...
Medscape (subscription) - Apr 25, 2008
To participate in this internet activity: (1) review the target audience, learning objectives, and author disclosures; (2) study the education content; ...
Church Briefs for 4/26
Terre Haute Tribune Star, IN - Apr 25, 2008
If sending an event announcement, please list time, date, address and cost; notices will be published the Saturday prior to the event. ...
Town to need more cash for jet noise fight
Boston Globe, United States - Apr 20, 2008
To date, the town has spent about $85000 on noise specialists and attorneys to bolster its legal argument. Voters at Marshfield's April 28 Special Town ...
Town Meeting articles many and varied
Wareham Courier, MA - Apr 24, 2008
The Finance Committee voted further study on the proposal so that the issue could come back in front of town meeting with exact meets and bounds for the ...

LA Youth
Journalist in the making
LA Youth, CA - Apr 23, 2008
I plan to study journalism this fall when I go to college, and this experience has helped me prepare for that. Writing this article and studying at HTH have ...
Q4 2008 Apogee Enterprises, Inc. Earnings Conference Call - Final
Insurance News Net (press release), PA - Apr 24, 2008
ROBERT KELLY: If you could just help me out with the backlog. Entering 4Q in your last press release you had $160 million for architectural, yet you finish ...APOG
True Hope for Bipolar Disorder Sufferers?
Natural News.com, AZ - Apr 21, 2008
The first study was performed by Dr. Bonnie Kaplan of the University of Calgary on 14 bipolar patients. According to Dr. Kaplan, "For those who completed ...
Source: Google News
 

How The Brain Senses Visual Illusions

Article Date: 13 Apr 2007 - 23:00 PDT
In a study that could help reveal how illusions are produced in the brain's visual cortex, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine have found new evidence of rapid integration of auditory and visual sensations in the brain. Their findings, which provide new insight into neural mechanisms by which visual perception can be altered by concurrent auditory events, was published online in the April 12 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.

When subjects were shown a single flash of light interposed between two brief sounds, many subjects reported seeing two distinct flashes of light. Investigating the timing and location of the brain processes that underlie this illusory effect - the illusion of seeing two flashes in the presence of two auditory signals, when only one flash actually occurs - can reveal how information from different senses are integrated in the brain.

The study of 34 subjects was carried out in the laboratory of Steven A. Hillyard, Ph.D., UCSD professor of neurosciences. "This type of perceptual illusion has been described before," said first author Jyoti Mishra, graduate student in the Hillyard lab. "The surprising finding we made is that the illusion depends on a rapidly timed sequence of interactions between the auditory and visual cortical areas."

Article continues below and (thank you)

 
"This is part of a set of new findings by scientists in the field that show how integration of multiple sensations can happen much more rapidly than we thought before," said Mishra. "We show physiological evidence that visual and auditory stimulation might not be processed separately, then merged together, as previously assumed, but that an almost-simultaneous integration of the sensations may actually take place in the brain."

The UCSD scientists measured event-related potentials (ERPs), brain responses that are directly related to the perceptual experiences induced by sensory stimuli, using an electrophysiological or EEG recording procedure that measures electrical activity of the brain through the skull.

"In subjects who reported seeing a second flash, the ERP measurements showed a boost of activity within the visual cortex of the brain immediately after hearing the second sound," said Mishra, adding that the second sound amplified the brain activity stimulated by the first sound. Perception of the second illusory flash was also marked by a rapid enhancement of processing in the auditory cortex of the brain. By observing the auditory boost, the researchers could predict when subjects would report seeing the visual illusion of a second flash.

"Our results provide evidence that perception of the illusory second flash is based on a very rapid and dynamic interplay between the auditory and visual cortices of the brain - on a time scale less than one tenth the blink of an eye." Mishra said. Interestingly, the pattern was very different between individuals who did or didn't see the second flash, indicating that the brain's wiring and the strength of integration between the different sensory cortices may differ between individuals, or even vary over time. "It suggests that there are consistent differences in the neural connectivity that are possibly shaped during one's development and through experience," she said.

Next, the researchers plan to look at whether or not attention affects these illusory sensations. These studies could shed light on how people deprived of one sensation often compensate by developing another - for instance, blind people with a more acute sense of hearing.

###

Additional contributors to the study include Antigona Martinez, UCSD Department of Neurosciences and Nathan S. Kline institute for Psychiatric Research, and Terrence J. Sejnowski, UCSD Department of Neurosciences, the Howard Hughes Medical Institution and Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute.

Contact: Debra Kain
University of California - San Diego
 
 
 
Google
Web www.iconocast.com
 
 
 
Source for News : URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com and Reuters
 


ADVERTISEMENT

Iconocast is about learning and teaching without borders; we offer eMarketing, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Online Branding, and eMarketing News Services.

 

Disclaimer

Negación

Home

Contact Iconocast

Keywords: