14 DAY TRIAL // One of the things that everyone learns from childhood is that all sense contribute to our overall perception of the environment. The question that has been bugging researchers is how this is happening in the brain. A new study proposes a series of explanations for these phenomena.
Things are especially complex when it comes to understanding moving sounds and images, since sight and hearing are so deeply intertwined. The new study learned that the two are so connected that they communicate to each other before they communicate to the brain.
“If we think of the perceptual system as a democracy where each sense is like a person casting a vote and all votes are counted (albeit with different weights) to reach a decision, what our study shows is that the voters talk to one another and influence one another even before each casts a vote,” the research team says.
It could even be that the information sight and hearing produce help each other become clearer. If either of the sense experiences blurry readings, the other can step in to refine the results, so that the brain can make the best possible choice, PsychCentral reports.