IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v446y2007i7138d10.1038_nature05739.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A new perceptual illusion reveals mechanisms of sensory decoding

Author

Listed:
  • Mehrdad Jazayeri

    (Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA)

  • J. Anthony Movshon

    (Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA)

Abstract

Levels of perception Perceptual illusions are usually thought to arise from the way sensory signals are encoded by the brain. But there is an alternative explanation. Illusions might also result from a more 'downstream' part of the neural network, at the point where the brain decodes sensory information according to the strategies suited to particular tasks. Experiments in normal subjects estimating the direction of motion of a random dot pattern relative to a fixed boundary reveal a consistent misjudgement, suggesting that the subjective experience of motion does not arise directly from the responses of sensory neurons, but develops after those responses have been decoded.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehrdad Jazayeri & J. Anthony Movshon, 2007. "A new perceptual illusion reveals mechanisms of sensory decoding," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7138), pages 912-915, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:446:y:2007:i:7138:d:10.1038_nature05739
    DOI: 10.1038/nature05739
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05739
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature05739?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Seth W. Egger & Stephen G. Lisberger, 2022. "Neural structure of a sensory decoder for motor control," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Long Luu & Alan A Stocker, 2021. "Categorical judgments do not modify sensory representations in working memory," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(6), pages 1-28, June.
    3. Stephen Morris & Ming Yang, 2016. "Coordination and Continuous Choice," Working Papers 087_2017, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Econometric Research Program..
    4. Caroline Haimerl & Douglas A. Ruff & Marlene R. Cohen & Cristina Savin & Eero P. Simoncelli, 2023. "Targeted V1 comodulation supports task-adaptive sensory decisions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Wenhao Li & Jianyu Lu & Zikang Zhu & Yong Gu, 2022. "Causal contribution of optic flow signal in Macaque extrastriate visual cortex for roll perception," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Stephen Morris & Ming Yang, 2016. "Coordination and the Relative Cost of Distinguishing Nearby States," Working Papers 079_2016, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Econometric Research Program..
    7. Andra Mihali & Marianne Broeker & Florian D. M. Ragalmuto & Guillermo Horga, 2023. "Introspective inference counteracts perceptual distortion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-24, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:446:y:2007:i:7138:d:10.1038_nature05739. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.