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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Philosophy, perception, and neuroscience
1Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. smythies@psy.ucsd.edu
Abstract:
This paper presents the results of some recent experiments in neuroscience and perceptual science that reveal the role of virtual reality in normal visual perception, and the use of television technology by the visual brain. This involves particularly the cholinergic system in the forebrain. This research throws new light on the nature of perception and the relation of phenomenal consciousness and its brain. It is directly relevant to criticisms by certain analytical philosophers of aspects of neuroscience relating to these matters. Particular attention is paid to their support for Naive Realism.
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