Cargando…

Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain

Disambiguation refers to the ability to interpret ambiguous information in a sensible way, which is important in an ever-changing external environment. Disambiguation occurs when prior knowledge is given before an ambiguous stimulus is presented. For example, labeling a series of meaningless blobs a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Ishizu, Tomohiro
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3757299/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24009570
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00501
_version_ 1782282188001116160
author Ishizu, Tomohiro
author_facet Ishizu, Tomohiro
author_sort Ishizu, Tomohiro
collection PubMed
description Disambiguation refers to the ability to interpret ambiguous information in a sensible way, which is important in an ever-changing external environment. Disambiguation occurs when prior knowledge is given before an ambiguous stimulus is presented. For example, labeling a series of meaningless blobs as a “human body” can change the observer's perception. The aim of this experiment was to study the neural circuitry underlying disambiguation caused by prior knowledge. We presented to participants a series of meaningless blobs with different contextual information. As participants performed this task, we used magnetoencephalography to map the brain areas that were activated when participants perceived blobs as a human body. The participants were presented identical sets of blob stimuli, and were instructed that a human body would appear more frequently in the “high body” condition than in the “low body” condition. We found the blob stimuli were more frequently perceived as the human body when they were presented in the “high body” condition. Such contextual modulation correlated with activity in the extrastriate body area (EBA) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Furthermore, we observed that IFG activation preceded EBA activation. These findings suggest that top-down processing in the IFG plays a role in disambiguating ambiguous information and modifying an individual's perceptions.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3757299
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2013
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-37572992013-09-05 Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain Ishizu, Tomohiro Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience Disambiguation refers to the ability to interpret ambiguous information in a sensible way, which is important in an ever-changing external environment. Disambiguation occurs when prior knowledge is given before an ambiguous stimulus is presented. For example, labeling a series of meaningless blobs as a “human body” can change the observer's perception. The aim of this experiment was to study the neural circuitry underlying disambiguation caused by prior knowledge. We presented to participants a series of meaningless blobs with different contextual information. As participants performed this task, we used magnetoencephalography to map the brain areas that were activated when participants perceived blobs as a human body. The participants were presented identical sets of blob stimuli, and were instructed that a human body would appear more frequently in the “high body” condition than in the “low body” condition. We found the blob stimuli were more frequently perceived as the human body when they were presented in the “high body” condition. Such contextual modulation correlated with activity in the extrastriate body area (EBA) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Furthermore, we observed that IFG activation preceded EBA activation. These findings suggest that top-down processing in the IFG plays a role in disambiguating ambiguous information and modifying an individual's perceptions. Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-08-30 /pmc/articles/PMC3757299/ /pubmed/24009570 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00501 Text en Copyright © 2013 Ishizu. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Ishizu, Tomohiro
Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
title Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
title_full Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
title_fullStr Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
title_full_unstemmed Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
title_short Disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
title_sort disambiguation of ambiguous figures in the brain
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3757299/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24009570
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00501
work_keys_str_mv AT ishizutomohiro disambiguationofambiguousfiguresinthebrain