eBook

Filling-in : from perceptual completion to cortical reorganization

Pessoa, Luiz, De Weerd, Peter

2003

Overview

A well-known example of filling-in involves the blind spot, a region in the back of the eye that is devoid of photoreceptors. The term blind spot is somewhat of a misnomer, because the corresponding region of visual space is not simply perceived as dark, as one would expect. Instead, it is “filled-in” with the same color and texture as the surrounding background. This phenomenon is often considered as little more than a curiosity. However, this book argues that completion mechanisms similar to those that fill in the blind spot are pervasive and necessary for normal perception. The book reviews evidence suggesting a link between particular neural processes and the perception of filling-in. It then introduces the idea that these processes can instigate various types of long-term neural plasticity, which may underlie recovery and rehabilitation after peripheral injury, as well as other types of skill learning. The connection between completion phenomena and long-term plasticity is explored not only in the visual system, but also in the auditory, somatosensory, and motor systems.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press,Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Subject: Cognition / Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience / Form Perception / Nervous system / Neurosciences / Perception / Perception -- physiology / Perceptual Closure / Senses and sensation / Sensory and Motor Systems / Visual cortex / Visual perception
• ISBN: 9780195140132, 0195140133