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Chapter 3 - Perception 2.2
Chapter 3 - Perception 2.2
BRAIN
The human perceiving machine
Contains some neurons that respond best to things that occur regularly in the
environment
EXPERIENCE-DEPENDENT PLASTICITY
Mechanism through which the structure of the brain is changed by experience
COLIN BLAKEMORE AND GRAHAM COOPER (1970)
Conducted an experiment that reshaped a kitten’s visual cortex to mainly
respond to verticals after continually being exposed in an environment consisting
of verticals
FUSIFORM FACE AREA (FFA)
An area in the temporal lobe that contains many neurons that responds best to
faces
ISABEL GAUTHIER AND COWORKERS (1999)
Determined whether this response to faces might be due to experience-
dependent plasticity by measuring the level of activity in the FFA in response to
faces and to objects called Greebles
GREEBLES
Are families of computer-generated “beings” that all have the same basic
configuration but differ in the shapes of their parts (just like faces)
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
THE RESULTS OF GIACOMO RIZZOLATTI AND COWORKERS’ EXPERIMENT ARE
THE FOLLOWING:
1. Led to the discovery of mirror neurons
MIRROR NEURONS
Neurons that respond both when a monkey observes someone else (usually the
experimenter) grasping an object, such as food on a tray
Are called mirror neurons because the neuron’s response to watching the
experimenter grasp an object is similar to the response that would occur if the
monkey were performing the action
2. Led to the discovery of audiovisual mirror neurons
AUDIOVISUAL MIRROR NEURONS
Neurons that respond to sounds that are associated with actions
Neurons, also in the premotor cortex, respond when a monkey performs a hand
action and when it hears the sound associated with this action