LECTURE 1
INTRODUCTION TO THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
Norbert Fortin, PhD
N110: Neurobiology and Behavior
April 26, 2017
OVERVIEW
The challenge of understanding the sensory systems
Internal rules, assumptions and shortcuts influencing
sensory perception
The multidimensionality of sensory perception
Unusual perception
THE CHALLENGE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
The brain is the most complicated and sophisticated organ
created by evolution
~100 billion neurons
Each neuron is connected directly to ~7,000 other neurons
(~ 100-500 trillion synapses)
Even more glial cells (~500 billions to ~1 trillion)
Each neuron is also covered by thousands of receptors that
respond to neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, hormones,...
We will focus mostly on the visual system
Why?
THE CHALLENGE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
What our sensory systems do is incredibly hard
the sensory information we get is ambiguous
Different lines in the world, same projection on the retina
THE CHALLENGE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
Somehow you can drive in a but its really hard to
snowstorm train a computer to do it
THE CHALLENGE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
What do you see here?
THE CHALLENGE OF UNDERSTANDING THE SENSORY SYSTEMS
Your brain actively constructs your sensory experience
Your visual system is not like a camera faithfully
capturing images
Everything you see is actively constructed
Color, shading, texture, motion, shape,...
This internal model of the world is built by innate rules
combined with your own experiences including your
memories, emotions, logic and beliefs
OVERVIEW
The challenge of understanding the sensory systems
Internal rules, assumptions and shortcuts influencing
sensory perception
The multidimensionality of sensory perception
Unusual perception
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
WHY DO WE HAVE THESE RULES?
Our brain has evolved for a very different world than the one
we live in now.
vs
Our ancestors lived in a very dangerous world, and had to
make quick decisions to survive.
We evolved innate rules, assumptions and short-cuts to help
us quickly decide in a hostile environment
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of foreground/background effects
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of illusory contours
Your brain creates the contours of objects
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of illusory contours
It works with curved lines too
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of simultaneous contrasts
The context of the visual scene influences perception
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of simultaneous contrasts
The context of the visual scene influences perception
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of simultaneous contrasts of color
The context of the visual scene influences perception
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of relative size
The context of the visual scene influences perception
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of length perception
Which table is longer? Which is wider?
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Perception of straight lines
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of apparent motion: stock market ticker
Your brain creates the illusion of motion if each
stationary stimulus lights up within 50 ms
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of apparent motion: visual illusions
Your brain creates the perception of motion
using some other cues as well
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of apparent motion: visual illusions
Your brain creates the perception of motion
using some other cues as well
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of apparent motion: visual illusions
Your brain creates the perception of motion
using some other cues as well
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Demo of apparent motion: visual illusions
Your brain creates the perception of motion
using some other cues as well
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Influence of the cognitive context of the visual scene
What is this?
INTERNAL RULES, ASSUMPTIONS & SHORTCUTS OF PERCEPTION
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF OBJECTIVE EXTERNAL STIMULI
Another example top-down influence on perception
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.
Cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a
rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
It deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are or if thhre are
tpyos, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the
rghit pclae. It can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef,
but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling
was ipmorantt!
from Prof. Ron Frostig, UCI
OVERVIEW
The challenge of understanding the sensory systems
Internal rules, assumptions and shortcuts influencing
sensory perception
The multidimensionality of sensory perception
Unusual perception
THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF SENSORY PERCEPTION
WE INTEGRATE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ASPECTS OF OUR EXPERIENCES
We saw that the external context is important for perception.
There is also an internal context that affects our sensory
perception, including emotions, reason, expectations and
beliefs.
Examples of problems integrating internal and external info
to create unified perceptions
Capgras syndrome (Capgras delusion)
THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF SENSORY PERCEPTION
WE INTEGRATE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ASPECTS OF OUR EXPERIENCES
Emotional expectations: the case of capgras syndrome
THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF SENSORY PERCEPTION
WE INTEGRATE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ASPECTS OF OUR EXPERIENCES
We saw that the external context is important for perception.
There is also an internal context that affects our sensory
perception, including emotions, reason, expectations and
beliefs.
Examples of problems integrating internal and external info to
create unified perceptions
Capgras syndrome (Capgras delusion)
Cotards syndrome (Cotard delusion)
Placebo effect (more common, benign version of this phenomemon)
Need more details? Look them up on wikipedia.org or pubmed.com
OVERVIEW
The challenge of understanding the sensory systems
Internal rules, assumptions and shortcuts influencing
sensory perception
The multidimensionality of sensory perception
Unusual perception
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
THE CASE OF SYNESTHESIA
Experiencing with two separate senses what the rest of us
experience with just one.
(e.g., taste a shape, or see color in sound).
See letters and digits
in color
Hear a telephone ringing
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
THE CASE OF SYNESTHESIA
The associations are arbitrary
Hear door bell ringing Hear dog barking
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
THE CASE OF SYNESTHESIA
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
THE CASE OF SYNESTHESIA
Some specific examples
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
THE CASE OF SYNESTHESIA
Some specific examples
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
COMMON FEATURES AMONG SYNESTHESIAS
Automatic, involuntary, and consistent over time (years)
Elementary
qualities like warm-cool, jagged-smooth, bright-dark, sparkling-steady
not pictorial nor highly elaborate
Very specific
They will spend a long time finding the exact color that matches
They use many more words to describe color variations, hinting that
their color experience is much richer.
Highly memorable.
It helps me remember
Loaded with affect.
When a color of ink does not match the expected one (a conflict) they
are disgusted, or describe their feeling to be like a fingernail
scratching a blackboard; while matches are delightful, gorgeous.
UNUSUAL PERCEPTION
NEURAL BASIS OF SYNESTHESIA
Not localized to any point in the brain
Seems to be the perceptual result of increased cross-talk between
different areas of the brain.
Two types of hypotheses regarding synesthesia:
1) Abnormal connections between cortical areas not typically
connected. Either non-pruned after childhood or an overgrowth
during adulthood.
2) Same cortical connections but lack of suppression (imbalance
of excitation and inhibition)
TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Your internal representation is not a faithful reflection of what
is in the environment
You are actively creating your own visual world based on the
visual input, internal and external context
Our brains bind together all these aspects into a single
percept (some extra binding in synesthesia)
