Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Perception

Perception

Perception is a fundamental psychological process that enables individuals to organize, interpret, and consciously experience sensory information. This process is crucial for understanding and interacting with the world around us. It includes both bottom-up and top-down processing, each playing a distinct role in how we perceive our environment.
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...

Introduction to Special Senses

Introduction to Special Senses

Sensory receptors play an integral part in comprehending our external and internal environments. They receive diverse stimuli, converting them into the nervous system's electrochemical signals. This conversion occurs as the stimulus alters the sensory neuron's cell membrane potential, instigating the generation of an action potential. This action potential is subsequently transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS), which integrates with other sensory data or higher cognitive functions.

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...

Synesthesia

Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a remarkable condition where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with synesthesia experience a blending or crossing of their senses, such as sight and sound, leading to cross-modal sensations. In this condition, the stimulation of one sense, such as hearing a number or musical note, triggers an experience of another sense, like sensing a specific color, taste, or smell. People...

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Between a Rock and a Hard Place in Science: A Biographical Account of One Discovery.

Motor control·2026

Same author

Synergies and other behaviors in the context of the referent control theory of action and perception.

Experimental brain research·2025

Same author

Turning Strategies While Walking on an Omnidirectional Treadmill With Virtual Reality.

IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society·2025

Same author

Optic flow modulates electrocortical activity during steady-state treadmill walking.

Behavioural brain research·2025

Same author

Clinical Relevance of the Tonic Stretch Reflex Threshold and μ as Measures of Upper Limb Spasticity and Motor Impairment After Stroke.

Neurorehabilitation and neural repair·2025

Same author

Application of an Auditory-Based Feedback Distortion to Modify Gait Symmetry in Healthy Individuals.

Brain sciences·2024

Same journal

Prevalence and modulation of rat off-track head scanning on linear tracks: possible implications for representational and dynamic properties of hippocampal place cells.

Neuropsychologia·2026

Same journal

Identifying networks within an fMRI multivariate searchlight analysis.

Neuropsychologia·2026

Same journal

Modulating sentence comprehension in people with aphasia through anodal tDCS: A double-blind randomized cross-over study.

Neuropsychologia·2026

Same journal

Deficient processing of regularity violations during visuospatial neglect: a visual mismatch negativity study.

Neuropsychologia·2026

Same journal

Seeing is believing: mental imagery amplifies moral, emotional, and motivational responding to mentally constructed hypothetical events.

Neuropsychologia·2026

Same journal

From past recall to future projection: What does verb tense production reveal about mental time travel in Alzheimer's disease?

Neuropsychologia·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Real-Time Proxy-Control of Re-Parameterized Peripheral Signals using a Close-Loop Interface

Real-Time Proxy-Control of Re-Parameterized Peripheral Signals using a Close-Loop Interface

Published on: May 8, 2021

Action-perception coupling in kinesthesia: a new approach.

Anatol G Feldman¹, Nabil Ilmane, Samir Sangani

¹Department of Neurosciences, University of Montreal, Montreal, PQ, Canada H3S 2J4; Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation (CRIR), Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay de Montréal, 6300 Darlington, Montreal, PQ, Canada H3S 2J4; Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital, Laval, PQ, Canada.

Neuropsychologia

|September 17, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The brain combines central commands and sensory feedback to create position sense (PS). This study shows these components are interchangeable, explaining kinesthetic illusions and phantom limb sensations.

Keywords:

Afferent feedback Body scheme Kinesthetic illusions Phantom limb Position sense Referent body configuration Sense of effort

More Related Videos

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Characterization of the Sense of Agency over the Actions of Neural-machine Interface-operated Prostheses

Characterization of the Sense of Agency over the Actions of Neural-machine Interface-operated Prostheses

Published on: January 7, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 7, 2026

Real-Time Proxy-Control of Re-Parameterized Peripheral Signals using a Close-Loop Interface

Real-Time Proxy-Control of Re-Parameterized Peripheral Signals using a Close-Loop Interface

Published on: May 8, 2021

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Characterization of the Sense of Agency over the Actions of Neural-machine Interface-operated Prostheses

Characterization of the Sense of Agency over the Actions of Neural-machine Interface-operated Prostheses

Published on: January 7, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Somatosensation

Background:

Intentional movements rely on a "referent position" (R) and sensory deviation (P) to form position sense (PS).
Previous research indicated R is key in voluntary motion and P in involuntary reflexes, but their interplay was unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To test if referent position (R) and afferent deviation (P) are interchangeable components of position sense (PS).
To investigate if position sense is independent of the sense of effort.
To explore if tendon vibration can induce a "no-motion illusion".

Main Methods:

Subjects reproduced wrist and elbow positions without vision under various conditions, including unloading reflexes and constant loads.
Tendon vibration was used to test for illusory motion perception.

Main Results:

Involuntary wrist position changes from reflexes were reproducible by intentional movements, supporting R and P interchangeability.
Position sense remained consistent regardless of the sense of effort or applied loads.
Tendon vibration induced a "no-motion illusion," where subjects perceived no movement despite actual displacement.

Conclusions:

The referent position (R) and afferent deviation (P) are additive components of position sense (PS).
Position sense is independent of the sense of effort or efference copy, challenging conventional views.
The proposed position sense rule explains kinesthetic illusions and the phantom limb phenomenon, advancing understanding of action-perception coupling.