Max-Planck-Gesellschaft 1. [99]Homepage [100]Newsroom Sensory perception is not superficial brain work Sensory perception is not superficial brain work How does the brain decide which of the senses it will focus attention on when two interact? For the first time, scientists measured the sensory signals at different depths in the cortex. February 07, 2020 [101]Brain Original 1581092220 Due to the dense folding of the cerebral cortex, the scientists had to digitally smooth it on the computer and break it down into different layers, in order to be able to precisely locate the signals. © Remi Gau Due to the dense folding of the cerebral cortex, the scientists had to digitally smooth it on the computer and break it down into different layers, in order to be able to precisely locate the signals. © Remi Gau If we cross a road with our smartphone in view, a car horn or engine noise will startle us. In everyday life we can easily combine information from different senses and shift our attention from one sensory input to another - for example, from seeing to hearing. But how does the brain decide which of the two senses it will focus attention on when the two interact? And, are these mechanisms reflected in the structure of the brain? To answer these questions, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig and the Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Robotics Centre at the University of Birmingham measured how sensory stimuli are processed in the brain. In contrast to previous studies, they did not restrict their observations to the surface the cerebral cortex. For the first time, they also measured the sensory signals at different depths in the cortex. The researchersʼ findings suggest that our brains conduct the multi-sensory flow of information via distinct circuits right down to the smallest windings of this highly folded brain structure. While the participants in their study were lying in a magnetic resonance tomograph (MRI), the scientists showed them visual symbols on a screen while simultaneously playing sounds. In a prior condition, the participants had been asked to explicitly focus their attention on either the audible or visible aspect of the stimuli. The neurophysicists Robert Turner, Robert Trampel and Rémi Gau then analyzed at which exact points the sensory stimuli were being processed. Two challenges needed to be overcome. "The cerebral cortex is only two to three millimeters thick. So we needed a very high spatial resolution (of less than one millimeter) during data acquisition," explains Robert Trampel, who co-directed the study at the MPI CBS. "Also, due to the dense folding of the cerebral cortex, we had to digitally smooth it and break it down into different layers, in order to be able to precisely locate the signals. This was all done on a computer of course." The results showed that when participants heard a sound, visual areas of their brains were largely switched off. This happened regardless of whether they focused on the audible or visible aspect of the stimuli. However, if they strongly attended to the auditory input, brain activity decreased, particularly in the regions representing the center of the visual field. Thus, it seems that sound can strongly draw our attention away from what weʼre looking at. In auditory brain regions the researchers also observed, for the first time, that the activity pattern, across different cortical layers, changed when participants were presented with only sounds. The situation was different when participants only perceived "something to the eye": in that case there was no change. Rémi Gau sums up, "So when we have to process different sensory impressions at the same time, different neuron circuits become active, depending on what we focus our attention on. We have now been able to make these interactions visible through novel computerized experiments." * [102]Science Magazine * [103]Events * [104]Images of Science * [105]On Location Contact Dr Robert Trampel Department of Neurophysics [106]Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig [107]+49 341 9940-2293 [108]trampel@cbs.mpg.de Bettina Hennebach Press officer [109]Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig [110]+49 341 9940-148 [111]hennebach@cbs.mpg.de Remi Gau, Pierre-Louis Bazin, Robert Trampel, Robert Turner, Uta Noppeney Resolving multisensory and attentional influences across cortical depth in sensory cortices eLife (2020) [112]DOI Navigation Other Interesting Articles [113]Cancer-like metabolism makes brain grow January 07, 2020 [114]Brain [115]Evolutionary Biology A gene for brain size has promoted the growth of the human brain [116]How extreme environmental conditions affect the human brain December 11, 2019 [117]Brain Study from the Antarctic Neumayer-Station III [118]Scientists develop first implantable magnet resonance detector November 26, 2019 [119]Brain A new miniature NMR implant measures neuronal activity [120]Virtual "moonwalk" for science reveals distortions in spatial memory November 18, 2019 [121]Brain Scientists use a virtual reality platform to detect distortions in our spatial memory [122]The Science of a Billboard Hit Song November 08, 2019 [123]Brain [124]Cultural Studies Scientists found that musical pleasure comes from the right combination of uncertainty and surprise. 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sing duets June 12, 2019 [142]Behavioral Biology [143]Brain Vocal control areas in the brain of weaver birds fire in time when they sing together [144]"Imagine..." - our attitudes can change solely by the power of imagination May 20, 2019 [145]Brain How imagined events can change our attitude [146]Hearing in 3D April 23, 2019 [147]Brain In order to recognize spatial structures, bat echolocation uses similar cues as our sense of sight [148]Brain organoids model disease March 12, 2019 [149]Animal Research [150]Brain New research leads the way in validating a promising human brain model [151]A deeper look inside the sleeping bird brain February 13, 2019 [152]Brain Similarities and differences between avian and mammalian sleep and possibly memory consolidation [153]Building a bigger brain January 08, 2019 [154]Brain [155]Developmental Biology A gene, found only in humans and active in the cerebral cortex, can enlarge the ferret brain [156]Brain hungers for dopamine January 07, 2019 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