Human Perception
Samenvatting - foundation of sensation and perception
Hoofdstuk 1
The cerbral cortex is devoted entirely to perception.
Prosopagnosia: a clinical condition resulting from brain damage, in which a patient is unable to
recognize familiar faces.
Psychophysics: The scientific study of the relationship between physical stimulation and perceptual
experience.
Sense Stimulus Receptor Sensory structure Cortex
Vision Electromagnetic Photoreceptors Eye Primary visual
energy cortex
Hearing Air pressure waves Mechanoreceptors Ear Auditory cortex
Touch Tissue distortion Mechanoreceptors, Skin, muscle, etc. Somatonsensory
thermoreceptors cortex
Balance Gravity, Mechanoreceptors Vestibular organs Temporal cortex
acceleration
Taste/Smell Chemical Chemoreceptors Nose, mouth Primary taste
composition cortex, olfactory
cortex
Zie ook figure 1.2 on page 5 for the receiving areas
Transduction: The process by which sensory receptor cells convert environmental energy into electrical
neural signals.
Cerebral cortex: The outer layer of the human brain: approximately 2.5 mm thick, it contains the
millions of neurons thought to underlie conscious perceptual experience.
Different methods to study perception
Lesion experiments: surgically remove or destroy a specific area of a brain, and then observe the
consequences for behavior. Played an important part in localization of function: The view that
neurons underlying a specific sensory or cognitive function are located in a circumscribed brain
area.
Lesion: An abnormality in structure or function in any part of the body.
Clinical studies: the same as lesion experiments, but then with human brain damage by accident
or something. Concluding form this is limited, because the researcher has no control over the
circumstances.
Single-unit recordings: (Electrical Field Theory of perception: ???) It discovered with
microelectrode recording the functions of all the different brain cells they are all specialized
although they look the same. It is not correct to think that individual neurons in the brain act as
detectors for individual stimulus features.
1
, Topographic map: A spatial arrangement of neurons in a neural structure in which nearby cells
respond to nearby locations in the visual field of view. Cells that prefer similar stimuli tend to be
located near to each other.
Brain imaging: primarily for the use in medicine.
Computerized tomography (CT) scan: A medical technique in which X-rays are passed through
the body at different angels, and the resulting data are processed by a computer to create
detailed images of body structure.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): A medical technique in which short bursts of powerful
radio waves are passed through the body at different angles, and signals emitted by body
molecules are processed by a computer to create detailed images of body structure.
Psychophysics: the scientific study of relationships between physical stimuli and perceptual
phenomena. Useful for testing predictions from theories of perception.
Artificial intelligence (AI): A branch of computer science that aims to produce a device capable
of behavior normally associated with human cognition, such as language understanding,
reasoning, and perception.
Computation: The manipulation of quantities or symbols according to a set of rules.
Connectionism: A form of computational modeling based on simulated networks of simple
processing units akin to neurons.
Neural impulse: A brief, discrete electrical signal (also known as action potential) that travels rapidly
along a cell’s axon. (Zie voor de werking van zenuwen blz. 12/13.)
Photoreceptor: A specialized nerve cell that produces electrical signals when struck by light.
Mechanoreceptor: A specialized nerve cell that produces electrical signals when subjected to
mechanical deformation.
All of the senses except olfaction (they go directly from olfaction bulb to cortex), one of the synapses
route from sense organ to brain (cortex) is located in the thalamus: A large dual-lobed mass of neurons
lying in the middle of the brain at the top of the brainstem and below each cerebral cortex, which relays
information to the cortex from diverse brain regions.
Cortical receiving area: An area of the cortex where afferent (incoming) fibers from a sense organ
terminate; als known as primary sensory cortex.
Cortical association area: An area of the cortex that receives information from neurons in a cortical
receiving area; also known as secondary sensory cortex.
Each sensory system responds only to a particular range of stimuli, this can be described as the sensory
space.
Receptive field: The area of a stimulus field in which presentation of a stimulus causes a change in the
firing rate of a given sensory neuron.
Specific nerve energy: The idea that neural signals in the senses are differentiated by their pathways in
the nervous system, rather than by differences in the nature of the signals themselves.
The brain is able to tune itself into the changing sensory environment of the developing organism,
though this plasticity is only possible for a limited period during development. Over much shorter time
periods, each sensory system is also able to adapt itself to the specific sensory environment.
Adaptability: The ability of a sensory system to vary its response characteristics to match prevailing
stimulation.
2
Samenvatting - foundation of sensation and perception
Hoofdstuk 1
The cerbral cortex is devoted entirely to perception.
Prosopagnosia: a clinical condition resulting from brain damage, in which a patient is unable to
recognize familiar faces.
Psychophysics: The scientific study of the relationship between physical stimulation and perceptual
experience.
Sense Stimulus Receptor Sensory structure Cortex
Vision Electromagnetic Photoreceptors Eye Primary visual
energy cortex
Hearing Air pressure waves Mechanoreceptors Ear Auditory cortex
Touch Tissue distortion Mechanoreceptors, Skin, muscle, etc. Somatonsensory
thermoreceptors cortex
Balance Gravity, Mechanoreceptors Vestibular organs Temporal cortex
acceleration
Taste/Smell Chemical Chemoreceptors Nose, mouth Primary taste
composition cortex, olfactory
cortex
Zie ook figure 1.2 on page 5 for the receiving areas
Transduction: The process by which sensory receptor cells convert environmental energy into electrical
neural signals.
Cerebral cortex: The outer layer of the human brain: approximately 2.5 mm thick, it contains the
millions of neurons thought to underlie conscious perceptual experience.
Different methods to study perception
Lesion experiments: surgically remove or destroy a specific area of a brain, and then observe the
consequences for behavior. Played an important part in localization of function: The view that
neurons underlying a specific sensory or cognitive function are located in a circumscribed brain
area.
Lesion: An abnormality in structure or function in any part of the body.
Clinical studies: the same as lesion experiments, but then with human brain damage by accident
or something. Concluding form this is limited, because the researcher has no control over the
circumstances.
Single-unit recordings: (Electrical Field Theory of perception: ???) It discovered with
microelectrode recording the functions of all the different brain cells they are all specialized
although they look the same. It is not correct to think that individual neurons in the brain act as
detectors for individual stimulus features.
1
, Topographic map: A spatial arrangement of neurons in a neural structure in which nearby cells
respond to nearby locations in the visual field of view. Cells that prefer similar stimuli tend to be
located near to each other.
Brain imaging: primarily for the use in medicine.
Computerized tomography (CT) scan: A medical technique in which X-rays are passed through
the body at different angels, and the resulting data are processed by a computer to create
detailed images of body structure.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): A medical technique in which short bursts of powerful
radio waves are passed through the body at different angles, and signals emitted by body
molecules are processed by a computer to create detailed images of body structure.
Psychophysics: the scientific study of relationships between physical stimuli and perceptual
phenomena. Useful for testing predictions from theories of perception.
Artificial intelligence (AI): A branch of computer science that aims to produce a device capable
of behavior normally associated with human cognition, such as language understanding,
reasoning, and perception.
Computation: The manipulation of quantities or symbols according to a set of rules.
Connectionism: A form of computational modeling based on simulated networks of simple
processing units akin to neurons.
Neural impulse: A brief, discrete electrical signal (also known as action potential) that travels rapidly
along a cell’s axon. (Zie voor de werking van zenuwen blz. 12/13.)
Photoreceptor: A specialized nerve cell that produces electrical signals when struck by light.
Mechanoreceptor: A specialized nerve cell that produces electrical signals when subjected to
mechanical deformation.
All of the senses except olfaction (they go directly from olfaction bulb to cortex), one of the synapses
route from sense organ to brain (cortex) is located in the thalamus: A large dual-lobed mass of neurons
lying in the middle of the brain at the top of the brainstem and below each cerebral cortex, which relays
information to the cortex from diverse brain regions.
Cortical receiving area: An area of the cortex where afferent (incoming) fibers from a sense organ
terminate; als known as primary sensory cortex.
Cortical association area: An area of the cortex that receives information from neurons in a cortical
receiving area; also known as secondary sensory cortex.
Each sensory system responds only to a particular range of stimuli, this can be described as the sensory
space.
Receptive field: The area of a stimulus field in which presentation of a stimulus causes a change in the
firing rate of a given sensory neuron.
Specific nerve energy: The idea that neural signals in the senses are differentiated by their pathways in
the nervous system, rather than by differences in the nature of the signals themselves.
The brain is able to tune itself into the changing sensory environment of the developing organism,
though this plasticity is only possible for a limited period during development. Over much shorter time
periods, each sensory system is also able to adapt itself to the specific sensory environment.
Adaptability: The ability of a sensory system to vary its response characteristics to match prevailing
stimulation.
2
