Multisensory Integration for Heading Perception in Macaque Visual Cortex

Abstract

The brain combines different sources of sensory information to optimize perception. Information from different sensory modalities is often seamlessly integrated into a unified percept with improved behavioral performance. Here we summarize the first attempt to understand the neural basis of multisensory cue integration in the context of a behavioral task in which cues are combined according to statistically optimal predictions. We describe multisensory cue integration in the macaque extrastriate visual cortex using a simple heading discrimination task in which monkeys were asked to judge their direction of self-motion using visual (optic flow) and extraretinal (vestibular) cues. Results suggest that rhesus macaques and humans use similar computational principles for combining multiple sensory cues and that these principles can be accounted for by the properties of individual neurons in multisensory cortical areas.