pass on how slowly our brains respond to incoming optic information , it should actually be impossible for us to hit a blistering bullet . But we can . That ’s because , alternatively of showing us the world as it really is , our brain offer us a glimpse of the future .
Indeed , our innate ability to go after tight - moving object has perplexed neuroscientist for some time now . But asa new subject field write today(May 8) in Neuron indicate , our brains “ energy ” forward moving object such that we perceive them as being further onward in time and space than they really are . Without even bed it , we ’re doing a bit of time traveling .
It takes one - ten percent of a arcsecond for your brain to work on what it sees . Now , that might seem like a really short amount of time , but if an object is coming towards you at 120 mph , like a testicle from a tennis service , it will have go 15 feet before your brain know what hit it — perhaps quite literally .
No doubt — if our brains were n’t capable to compensate for these perceptual and motor holdup , we ’d be in all variety of trouble . Not only would we have problems hitting a hummer or returning a serve , we would n’t be able to pick up on the trajectories of fast - moving object like cars or incoming clenched fist . We ’d also have problems moving objects around , or even navigating our bodies at high upper .
Neuroscientists have propose some possible solutions , likeretinotopic single-valued function , spatiotopic perceptual mathematical function , or combination of the two . But these theories do n’t do a unspoilt job explicate how our brain traverse objects at all right spacial scales , like the changing positions of fast - go objects .
To figure out what ’s die on , Gerrit Maus from UC Berkeley and his colleagues put six volunteers into a operational Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( fMRI ) scanner . While their brains were scanned , they determine the “ flash - puff impression ” ( seevideo ) — a two - part ocular conjuring trick in which brief flashes can be run across in the direction of motion . The illusion makes citizenry see the flashes as part of the go desktop , which in turn triggers the prediction mechanism ask to compensate for the brain ’s processing delays .
After looking at the scans , the researchers were able to pinpoint the part of the visual cerebral cortex responsible , a neighborhood known as V5 . This part of the brain , also called MT+ , plays a major role in the perceptual experience of motion . And as the researchers now know , V5 also do calculations about where an object is potential to finish up .
“ The image that attain the eye and then is processed by the brain is not in sync with the tangible world , but the brain is cagy enough to compensate for that , ” Maus allege in astatement . “ What we comprehend does n’t necessarily have that much to do with the real world , but it is what we need to have it away to interact with the genuine world . ”
Read the intact article in Neuron : “ Motion - Dependent Representation of Space in Area MT+ . ”
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