Description du projet
Disséquer le traitement multisensoriel dans le cerveau
Le cerveau possède une capacité unique de traiter les informations provenant des cinq sens primaires. Au travers de systèmes physiques et voies complexes, les stimuli sensoriels convergent pour générer une perception subjective. La défaillance de ces mécanismes peut entraîner diverses affections telles que l’autisme. Financé par le Conseil européen de la recherche, le projet DynaSens vise à étudier les mécanismes par lesquels le cerveau combine les entrées sensorielles et comment ces processus sont affectés en ce qui concerne l’autisme. Les chercheurs utiliseront des modèles informatiques, la neuro-imagerie et des tâches perceptives afin de comprendre en profondeur le fonctionnement du cerveau et relever les défis associés aux déficits de perception en ce qui concerne les troubles cognitifs.
Objectif
The brain’s multisensory faculty provides considerable benefits for perception, as the adaptive weighting of multiple inputs increases perceptual reliability and flexibility. However, failure of this process results in an impoverished percept, and links to perceptual deficits that occur along our life span and in disorders such as Autism. While the brain efficiently handles multiple sensory inputs, we still have a limited understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms. To advance our knowledge of how the brain processes its environment I propose a pioneering agenda that departs from previous descriptive work by linking the underlying brain mechanisms with specific multisensory computations and perception.
Precisely, I propose a programme that combines computational models of multisensory interactions with high-density neuroimaging and perceptual tasks. This interdisciplinary research builds on my pioneering multisensory work but will provide a qualitatively new and principled understanding of the neural processes that implement the well-known perceptual benefits of multisensory information.
The proposed programme advances our knowledge by addressing the following timely questions: What are the neural processes transforming multiple sensory inputs to a unified representation guiding behaviour? How does the brain control the dynamic weighting of multiple inputs and assigns these to either a single or multiple causes? Which perceptual and neural processes are affected in the multisensory deficits seen in autistic individuals or the elderly?
This agenda, by its innovative methods and deliverables, will offer a principled and comprehensive understanding of how the brain handles and merges multiple sensory inputs, and provides a framework for addressing continuing and pressing problems associated with multisensory processing deficits seen in cognitive disorders and during our life span.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitution d’accueil
33615 Bielefeld
Allemagne