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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...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013
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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 |
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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 |