A visually-induced eyelid droop illusion as a classroom demonstration of cross-modality.

ABSTRACT: Cross-modality, or the interaction between the different senses, has emerged as a fundamental concept in perceptual neuroscience and psychology. The traditional idea of five separate senses with independent neural substrates has been invalidated by both psychophysical findings of sensory integration and neurophysiological discoveries of multi-modal neurons in many areas of the brain. Even areas previously thought to be unimodal have been shown to be influenced by other senses, thus establishing multisensory integration as a key principle of perceptual neuroscience. There are several obstacles to students' understanding of the concept. First, everyday subjective experience is modal: one sees, hears, smells the world and is rarely aware that these seemingly separate impressions are in realit

SUBMITTER: Wolfe U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3597425 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature