Abstract
SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633-8639.
Hearing silences: Human auditory processing relies on pre-activation of sound-specific brain activity patterns
The remarkable capabilities displayed by humans in making sense of an overwhelming amount of sensory information cannot be explained easily if perception is viewed as a passive process. Current theoretical and computational models assume that in order to achieve meaningful and coherent perception, the human brain must anticipate upcoming stimulation. But how are upcoming stimuli predicted in the brain? We unmasked the neural representation of a prediction by omitting the predicted sensory input. Electrophysiological brain signals showed that when a clear prediction can be formulated, the brain activates a template of its response to the predicted stimulus before it arrives to our senses.
Contact
Cognitive and Biological Psychology
University of Leipzig
Faculty of Life Sciences
Institute of Psychology
Neumarkt 9-19
D-04109 Leipzig
Secretariat
Dagmar Schrödl
Phone: +49 341 97-39570
Email: dagmar dot schroedl at uni-leipzig dot de
Fax: +49 341 97-39271