Canal-otolith interactions alter the perception of self-motion direction

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sensory Perception
• Vestibular System

Background:

• Limited research exists on how the brain perceives sequential vestibular stimuli.
• Existing studies on unimodal motion sequences suggest self-motion aftereffects, potentially from altered sensory processing or attentional shifts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the perceptual decision-making process for intravestibular motion sequences.
• To determine if preceding vestibular stimuli influence the perception of subsequent motion direction.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted with 33 participants using natural vestibular stimulation (yaw rotation/translation).
• Participants discriminated the direction of a target motion following a cue motion stimulus.
• Hierarchical drift diffusion models were employed for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Participants systematically misjudged motion direction when the cue and target motions were congruent, indicating a motion aftereffect.
• This effect occurred well above the motion detection threshold.
• Results suggest altered perceptual decision-making contributes to misperceptions.

Conclusions:

• Altered processing of sensory vestibular information is a likely cause of misperceptions in motion sequences.
• The findings challenge solely attentional shift hypotheses, emphasizing sensory processing changes.