Bridging the gap between theories of sensory cue integration and the physiology of multisensory neurons

Nat Rev Neurosci. 2013 Jun;14(6):429-42. doi: 10.1038/nrn3503.

Abstract

The richness of perceptual experience, as well as its usefulness for guiding behaviour, depends on the synthesis of information across multiple senses. Recent decades have witnessed a surge in our understanding of how the brain combines sensory cues. Much of this research has been guided by one of two distinct approaches: one is driven primarily by neurophysiological observations, and the other is guided by principles of mathematical psychology and psychophysics. Conflicting results and interpretations have contributed to a conceptual gap between psychophysical and physiological accounts of cue integration, but recent studies of visual-vestibular cue integration have narrowed this gap considerably.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain / cytology
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Cues*
  • Humans
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Perception / physiology*
  • Psychological Theory
  • Sensory Receptor Cells / physiology*
  • Vision, Ocular / physiology*