Cortical hierarchies perform Bayesian causal inference in multisensory perception.
Tim Rohe,Uta Noppeney +1 more
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TLDR
Characterizing the computational operations of signal interactions reveals the hierarchical nature of multisensory perception in human neocortex and unravels how the brain accomplishes Bayesian Causal Inference, a statistical computation fundamental for perception and cognition.Abstract:
To form a veridical percept of the environment, the brain needs to integrate sensory signals from a common source but segregate those from independent sources. Thus, perception inherently relies on solving the "causal inference problem." Behaviorally, humans solve this problem optimally as predicted by Bayesian Causal Inference; yet, the underlying neural mechanisms are unexplored. Combining psychophysics, Bayesian modeling, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and multivariate decoding in an audiovisual spatial localization task, we demonstrate that Bayesian Causal Inference is performed by a hierarchy of multisensory processes in the human brain. At the bottom of the hierarchy, in auditory and visual areas, location is represented on the basis that the two signals are generated by independent sources (= segregation). At the next stage, in posterior intraparietal sulcus, location is estimated under the assumption that the two signals are from a common source (= forced fusion). Only at the top of the hierarchy, in anterior intraparietal sulcus, the uncertainty about the causal structure of the world is taken into account and sensory signals are combined as predicted by Bayesian Causal Inference. Characterizing the computational operations of signal interactions reveals the hierarchical nature of multisensory perception in human neocortex. It unravels how the brain accomplishes Bayesian Causal Inference, a statistical computation fundamental for perception and cognition. Our results demonstrate how the brain combines information in the face of uncertainty about the underlying causal structure of the world.read more
Citations
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The representation of visual salience in monkey parietal cortex
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Behavioral, perceptual, and neural alterations in sensory and multisensory function in autism spectrum disorder
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Perception of body ownership is driven by Bayesian sensory inference.
TL;DR: The findings suggest that perception of body ownership is governed by Bayesian causal inference—i.e., the same rule that appears to govern the perception of outside world.
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Distinct Computational Principles Govern Multisensory Integration in Primary Sensory and Association Cortices
TL;DR: This fMRI study used multivariate pattern decoding to characterize the computational principles that define how auditory and visual signals are integrated into spatial representations across the cortical hierarchy and demonstrates that multisensory interactions in primary and association cortices are governed by distinct computational principles.
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