Sensation & Perception
Semester 2, 2024
This summary encompasses all the material covered in the lectures, including more extensive
explanations and the articles examined (5, 6, 9 & 12 + 19, 22, 24 & 32).
,Inhoudsopgave
CHAPTER 1 – LECTURE 1....................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2 – LECTURE 2...................................................................................................................10
CHAPTER 3 – LECTURE 3...................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 4 – LECTURE 4...................................................................................................................26
CHAPTER 5 – LECTURE 5...................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 6 – LECTURE 6...................................................................................................................45
CHAPTER 7 – LECTURE 7...................................................................................................................50
PAPER 5: NEURAL DECODING OF VISUAL IMAGERY DURING SLEEP..................................................57
PAPER 6: ACTIVATION OF THE MIDDLE FUSIFORM ‘FACE AREA’ INCREASES WITH EXPERTISE IN
RECOGNIZING NOVEL OBJECTS........................................................................................................58
PAPER 9: WHORF HYPOTHESIS IS SUPPORTED IN THE RIGHT VISUAL FIELD BUT NOT THE LEFT. .......59
PAPER 12: BINOCULAR RIVALRY AND VISUAL AWARENESS IN HUMAN EXTRASTRIATE CORTEX.......60
2
,Chapter 1 – Lecture 1
Sensation a translation of the external physical environment into a pattern of neural
activity
Perception analysis of this neural activity to understand the environment and guide
behavior (the subjective conscious experience of the outside world)
Sensation and perception reflect interactions between our sensory organs and physical
properties of the world, so they are:
- Dependent on physical properties of the world
- Limited by the physical properties of our senses
Senses
Interactions between physical forces in the world and our sensory organs produce neural
activity that carries information about the world. We need to analyze the patterns in these
physical forces and neural responses to understand what’s happening around us.
Vision (sight) Eyes (retina)
Hearing (audition) Ears (cochlea)
Taste (gustation) Tongue (taste buds)
Smell (olfaction) Nose (olfactory epithelium)
Touch (somatosensation) Skin etc.
Balance (vestibular) Vestibular labyrinths
Within these sensory organs, there are specific sensory receptor neurons that interact with
something physical in the outside world. In all our senses, a single type of sensory receptor’s
activity can be analyzed in multiple ways, so that there are multiple distinct aspects of the
perception of each sense.
So, within vision, all these different aspects begin in the same place and share early
processing stages, but then they are separated into different functions performed by
different pathways:
- Form
- Motion
- Color
- Depth and distance
- Quantities
- Cognitive influences
Neural computations
In the early stages of vision, it is possible to examine the inputs and responses of neurons in
so much detail that we can follow how a pattern of activity in one set of neurons is analyzed
by the next neuron to give a type of response.
For example, these 4 neurons respond to changes in brightness at 4 different locations. If
another neuron takes inputs from all of these and responds only when they all respond, it
3
, will respond to edges with a specific orientation running across these locations. This
produces a new representation of the directions of edges that can be analyzed further to
reveal more complex shapes and objects.
Dualism the human mind is a separate entity from the physical body.
Monism the mind is an aspect of the body, held in the brain and nervous system. The
mind and body are manifestations of the same physical thing.
How to study perception
If we see sensation and perception as a translation of the physical environment into a pattern
of neural activity that can be used by our brain to guide behavior, we will have to change the
sensory input/stimulus to change what we perceive.
Weber-Fechner Law
Weber and Fechner were the pioneers of modern perceptual studies. They came up with
the framework of psychophysics: the interaction of the brain/nervous system (psycho)
with physical stimuli (physics).
The Weber-Fechner Law describes the relationship between a physical intensity and its
perceived intensity. This is a logarithmic relationship: detectable difference increases with
the average stimulus intensity.
Psychophysics testing whether subjects perceive a difference between two stimuli.
4
Semester 2, 2024
This summary encompasses all the material covered in the lectures, including more extensive
explanations and the articles examined (5, 6, 9 & 12 + 19, 22, 24 & 32).
,Inhoudsopgave
CHAPTER 1 – LECTURE 1....................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2 – LECTURE 2...................................................................................................................10
CHAPTER 3 – LECTURE 3...................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 4 – LECTURE 4...................................................................................................................26
CHAPTER 5 – LECTURE 5...................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 6 – LECTURE 6...................................................................................................................45
CHAPTER 7 – LECTURE 7...................................................................................................................50
PAPER 5: NEURAL DECODING OF VISUAL IMAGERY DURING SLEEP..................................................57
PAPER 6: ACTIVATION OF THE MIDDLE FUSIFORM ‘FACE AREA’ INCREASES WITH EXPERTISE IN
RECOGNIZING NOVEL OBJECTS........................................................................................................58
PAPER 9: WHORF HYPOTHESIS IS SUPPORTED IN THE RIGHT VISUAL FIELD BUT NOT THE LEFT. .......59
PAPER 12: BINOCULAR RIVALRY AND VISUAL AWARENESS IN HUMAN EXTRASTRIATE CORTEX.......60
2
,Chapter 1 – Lecture 1
Sensation a translation of the external physical environment into a pattern of neural
activity
Perception analysis of this neural activity to understand the environment and guide
behavior (the subjective conscious experience of the outside world)
Sensation and perception reflect interactions between our sensory organs and physical
properties of the world, so they are:
- Dependent on physical properties of the world
- Limited by the physical properties of our senses
Senses
Interactions between physical forces in the world and our sensory organs produce neural
activity that carries information about the world. We need to analyze the patterns in these
physical forces and neural responses to understand what’s happening around us.
Vision (sight) Eyes (retina)
Hearing (audition) Ears (cochlea)
Taste (gustation) Tongue (taste buds)
Smell (olfaction) Nose (olfactory epithelium)
Touch (somatosensation) Skin etc.
Balance (vestibular) Vestibular labyrinths
Within these sensory organs, there are specific sensory receptor neurons that interact with
something physical in the outside world. In all our senses, a single type of sensory receptor’s
activity can be analyzed in multiple ways, so that there are multiple distinct aspects of the
perception of each sense.
So, within vision, all these different aspects begin in the same place and share early
processing stages, but then they are separated into different functions performed by
different pathways:
- Form
- Motion
- Color
- Depth and distance
- Quantities
- Cognitive influences
Neural computations
In the early stages of vision, it is possible to examine the inputs and responses of neurons in
so much detail that we can follow how a pattern of activity in one set of neurons is analyzed
by the next neuron to give a type of response.
For example, these 4 neurons respond to changes in brightness at 4 different locations. If
another neuron takes inputs from all of these and responds only when they all respond, it
3
, will respond to edges with a specific orientation running across these locations. This
produces a new representation of the directions of edges that can be analyzed further to
reveal more complex shapes and objects.
Dualism the human mind is a separate entity from the physical body.
Monism the mind is an aspect of the body, held in the brain and nervous system. The
mind and body are manifestations of the same physical thing.
How to study perception
If we see sensation and perception as a translation of the physical environment into a pattern
of neural activity that can be used by our brain to guide behavior, we will have to change the
sensory input/stimulus to change what we perceive.
Weber-Fechner Law
Weber and Fechner were the pioneers of modern perceptual studies. They came up with
the framework of psychophysics: the interaction of the brain/nervous system (psycho)
with physical stimuli (physics).
The Weber-Fechner Law describes the relationship between a physical intensity and its
perceived intensity. This is a logarithmic relationship: detectable difference increases with
the average stimulus intensity.
Psychophysics testing whether subjects perceive a difference between two stimuli.
4
