Supralinear and Supramodal Integration of Visual and Tactile Signals in Rats: Psychophysics and Neuronal Mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: To better understand how object recognition can be triggered independently of the sensory channel through which information is acquired, we devised a task in which rats judged the orientation of a raised, black and white grating. They learned to recognize two categories of orientation: 0° ± 45° ("horizontal") and 90° ± 45° ("vertical"). Each trial required a visual (V), a tactile (T), or a visual-tactile (VT) discrimination; VT performance was better than that predicted by optimal linear combination of V and T signals, indicating synergy between sensory channels. We examined posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and uncovered key neuronal correlates of the behavioral findings: PPC carried both graded information about object orientation and categorical information about the rat's upcoming choice

SUBMITTER: Nikbakht N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5814688 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature