Gravity in the Brain as a Reference for Space and Time Perception
Source: Volume 28, Issue 5-6, pp 397 - 426Moving and interacting with the environment require a reference for orientation and a scale for calibration in space and time. There is a wide variety of environmental clues and calibrated frames at different locales, but the reference of gravity is ubiquitous on Earth. The pull of gravity on static objects provides a plummet which, together with the horizontal plane, defines a three-dimensional Cartesian frame for visual images. On the other hand, the gravitational acceleration of falling objects can provide a time-stamp on events, because the motion duration of an object accelera...
Source: Multisensory research - July 31, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Francesco Lacquaniti, Gianfranco Bosco, Silvio Gravano, Iole Indovina, Barbara La Scaleia, Vincenzo Maffei and Myrka Zago Source Type: research
Introduction to Vestibular Cognition Special Issue: Progress in Vestibular Cognition
Source: Volume 28, Issue 5-6, pp 393 - 396 (Source: Multisensory research)
Source: Multisensory research - July 31, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Elisa R. Ferrè and Laurence R. Harris Source Type: research
Out-of-Body Experiences and Other Complex Dissociation Experiences in a Patient with Unilateral Peripheral Vestibular Damage and Deficient Multisensory Integration (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 23Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are illusory perceptions of one’s body from an elevated disembodied perspective. Recent theories postulate a double disintegration process in the personal (visual, proprioceptive and tactile disintegration) and extrapersonal (visual and vestibular disintegration) space as the basis of OBEs. Here we describe a case which corroborates and extends this hypothesis. The patient suffered from peripheral vestibular damage and presented with OBEs and lucid dreams. Analysis of the patient’s behaviour revealed a failure of visuo-vestibular integration and abnormal sensitivity t...
Source: Multisensory research - July 16, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Mariia Kaliuzhna, Dominique Vibert, Petr Grivaz and Olaf Blanke Source Type: research
Crossmodal Correspondences: Standing Issues and Experimental Guidelines
Source: Page Count 22Crossmodal correspondences refer to the systematic associations often found across seemingly unrelated sensory features from different sensory modalities. Such phenomena constitute a universal trait of multisensory perception even in non-human species, and seem to result, at least in part, from the adaptation of sensory systems to natural scene statistics. Despite recent developments in the study of crossmodal correspondences, there are still a number of standing questions about their definition, their origins, their plasticity, and their underlying computational mechanisms. In this paper, I will revie...
Source: Multisensory research - July 13, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Cesare V. Parise Source Type: research
Crossmodal Correspondences: Standing Issues and Experimental Guidelines (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 22Crossmodal correspondences refer to the systematic associations often found across seemingly unrelated sensory features from different sensory modalities. Such phenomena constitute a universal trait of multisensory perception even in non-human species, and seem to result, at least in part, from the adaptation of sensory systems to natural scene statistics. Despite recent developments in the study of crossmodal correspondences, there are still a number of standing questions about their definition, their origins, their plasticity, and their underlying computational mechanisms. In this paper, I will revie...
Source: Multisensory research - July 13, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Cesare V. Parise Source Type: research
Prediction in the Vestibular Control of Arm Movements (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 19The contribution of vestibular signals to motor control has been evidenced in postural, locomotor, and oculomotor studies. Here, we review studies showing that vestibular information also contributes to the control of arm movements during whole-body motion. The data reviewed suggest that vestibular information is used by the arm motor system to maintain the initial hand position or the planned hand trajectory unaltered during body motion. This requires integration of vestibular and cervical inputs to determine the trunk motion dynamics. These studies further suggest that the vestibular control of arm m...
Source: Multisensory research - July 8, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Jean Blouin, Jean-Pierre Bresciani, Etienne Guillaud and Martin Simoneau Source Type: research
Introduction to Vestibular Cognition Special Issue: Progress in Vestibular Cognition (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 4 (Source: Multisensory research)
Source: Multisensory research - July 7, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Elisa R. Ferrè and Laurence R. Harris Source Type: research
Internal Models, Vestibular Cognition, and Mental Imagery: Conceptual Considerations (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 18Vestibular cognition has recently gained attention. Despite numerous experimental and clinical demonstrations, it is not yet clear what vestibular cognition really is. For future research in vestibular cognition, adopting a computational approach will make it easier to explore the underlying mechanisms. Indeed, most modeling approaches in vestibular science include a top-down or a prioricomponent. We review recent Bayesian optimal observer models, and discuss in detail the conceptual value of prior assumptions, likelihood and posterior estimates for research in vestibular cognition. We then co...
Source: Multisensory research - July 3, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Fred W. Mast and Andrew W. Ellis Source Type: research
Beyond the Non-Specific Attentional Effect of Caloric Vestibular Stimulation: Evidence from Healthy Subjects and Patients (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 22Caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) is a simple physiological manipulation that has been used for a long time in different clinical fields due to its rapid and relevant effects on behaviour. One of the most debated issues in this research field concerns the degree of specificity of such stimulation, namely whether the effects of CVS can be, and to what extent are, independent of the mere influence of non-specific factors such as general arousal, ocular movements or attentional shift towards the stimulated side. The hypothesis that CVS might cause a shift of attention towards the side of the stimulati...
Source: Multisensory research - June 26, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Gabriella Bottini and Martina Gandola Source Type: research
‘Striking a Sour Note’: Assessing the Influence of Consonant and Dissonant Music on Taste Perception (Advance Article)
We report two experiments designed to investigate the consequences of manipulating the harmonic content of background music on taste perception. The participants in the present study evaluated samples of mixed fruit juice whilst listening to soundtracks that had either been harmonised with consonant or dissonant musical intervals. Each sample of juice was rated on three computer-based scales: One scale was anchored with the words sour and sweet, while the other two scales involved hedonic ratings of the music and of the juice. The results of an internet-based pre-test revealed that participants reliably associated the cons...
Source: Multisensory research - June 25, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Qian (Janice) Wang and Charles Spence Source Type: research
Crossmodal Correspondences: Four Challenges
Source: Page Count 20The renewed interest that has emerged around the topic of crossmodal correspondences in recent years has demonstrated that crossmodal matchings and mappings exist between the majority of sensory dimensions, and across all combinations of sensory modalities. This renewed interest also offers a rapidly-growing list of ways in which correspondences affect — or interact with — metaphorical understanding, feelings of ‘knowing’, behavioral tasks, learning, mental imagery, and perceptual experiences. Here we highlight why, more generally, crossmodal correspondences matter to theories of multisensory i...
Source: Multisensory research - June 2, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Ophelia Deroy and Charles Spence Source Type: research
Crossmodal Correspondences: Four Challenges (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 20The renewed interest that has emerged around the topic of crossmodal correspondences in recent years has demonstrated that crossmodal matchings and mappings exist between the majority of sensory dimensions, and across all combinations of sensory modalities. This renewed interest also offers a rapidly-growing list of ways in which correspondences affect — or interact with — metaphorical understanding, feelings of ‘knowing’, behavioral tasks, learning, mental imagery, and perceptual experiences. Here we highlight why, more generally, crossmodal correspondences matter to theories of multisensory i...
Source: Multisensory research - June 2, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Ophelia Deroy and Charles Spence Source Type: research
When Sandpaper Is ‘Kiki’ and Satin Is ‘Bouba’: an Exploration of the Associations Between Words, Emotional States, and the Tactile Attributes of Everyday Materials (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 23Over the last decade, scientists working on the topic of multisensory integration, as well as designers and marketers involved in trying to understand consumer behavior, have become increasingly interested in the non-arbitrary associations (e.g., sound symbolism) between different sensorial attributes of the stimuli they work with. Nevertheless, to date, little research in this area has investigated the presence of these crossmodal correspondences in the tactile evaluation of everyday materials. Here, we explore the presence and nature of the associations between tactile sensations, the sound of non-wo...
Source: Multisensory research - June 1, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Roberta Etzi, Charles Spence, Massimiliano Zampini and Alberto Gallace Source Type: research
The Moving History of Vestibular Stimulation as a Therapeutic Intervention (Advance Article)
Source: Page Count 35Although the discovery and understanding of the function of the vestibular system date back only to the 19th century, strategies that involve vestibular stimulation were used long before to calm, soothe and even cure people. While such stimulation was classically achieved with various motion devices, like Cox’s chair or Hallaran’s swing, the development of caloric and galvanic vestibular stimulation has opened up new possibilities in the 20th century. With the increasing knowledge and recognition of vestibular contributions to various perceptual, motor, cognitive, and emotional processes, vestibula...
Source: Multisensory research - June 1, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Luzia Grabherr, Gianluca Macauda and Bigna Lenggenhager Source Type: research
Audio-Visual, Visuo-Tactile and Audio-Tactile Correspondences in Preschoolers
Interest in crossmodal correspondences has recently seen a renaissance thanks to numerous studies in human adults. Yet, still very little is known about crossmodal correspondences in children, particularly in sensory pairings other than audition and vision. In the current study, we investigated whether 4–5-year-old children match auditory pitch to the spatial motion of visual objects (audio-visual condition). In addition, we investigated whether this correspondence extends to touch, i.e., whether children also match auditory pitch to the spatial motion of touch (audio-tactile condition) and the spatial motion of visual o...
Source: Multisensory research - May 28, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Elena Nava, Massimo Grassi and Chiara Turati Source Type: research
