Project description
Bridging the gap between the sensory and social dimensions of our experiences
We often take our senses for granted. Yet, these tools allow us to perceive, understand, and interact with our surroundings. What happens when our senses intersect with social interactions? With the support of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the MBraiS project will answer this question. It will explore how our brains process sensory information in the context of social interactions. It will use innovative technologies such as electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging combined with sophisticated cognitive modelling techniques to understand the intricacies of human perception. Specifically, the project will identify when social contexts impact multisensory processing. It will also pinpoint the specific brain regions where these interactions occur.
Objective
"Sensory experiences are a vital aspect of human existence. In everyday life, our senses are flooded with input, constantly picking up multiple unisensory signals at once. In our brain, these incoming signals are either processed separately or integrated into one unitary percept a process known as ""multisensory integration"". Intriguingly, this integration process can be affected by the social context people find themselves in, for example such that people perceive certain perceptual illusions more intensely when experiencing them jointly with another person. To date, this effect has been observed on a behavioral level yet it is not clear what happens in the human brain on a neurophysiological and computational level. Thus, in the proposed research I will investigate the interplay between multisensory and social processes from a neuroscientific perspective. I aim to (1) identify when the social context affects multisensory processing, (2) localize where in the brain the social context affects multisensory processing, and (3) model how the social context affects multisensory processing. To this end, I will conduct experimental studies, using a combination of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), complemented by a cognitive modeling approach. I will use EEG to address the temporal (when) and fMRI to address the spatial processing dimension (where). To address the third objective (how), I will fit a Bayesian causal inference model to the behavioural data. The overarching goal of my research is to extend the current view on multisensory processing by a social component, thereby contributing to a more holistic account of human perceptual processing."
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
1100 Wien
Austria