The Position Sense

old_uid7459
titleThe Position Sense
start_date2009/10/16
schedule16h
onlineno
location_infordc
detailsOrganisation du séminaire : Tiziana Zalla (CNRS - IJN) & Benjamin Spector (CNRS - IJN)
summaryHow do we know where things are? And how do we know which of them we are looking at? Our studies suggest that position is constructed by a small set of pointers that attempt to follow and, where possible, predict target positions. When these constructed locations lag or overshoot their targets, we can catch the visual system in the act. These errors in construction underlie several perceptual mislocalizations and reveal possible mechanisms used to create perceived location. We show, in addition, that there is one privileged pointer that corresponds to our sense of “where we are looking”. This direction of gaze can be detached from the center of vision under special circumstances so that we report looking directly at targets that are far from the center of vision. This set of pointers is maintained in one map in the cortex and it serves both spatial attention and eye movement programming as well as the perception of location.
responsiblesSpector, Tiziana +