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FASEB Journal : Official Publication of... Sep 2021Memorizing pheromonal locations is critical for many mammalian species as it involves finding mates and avoiding competitors. In rodents, pheromonal information is...
Memorizing pheromonal locations is critical for many mammalian species as it involves finding mates and avoiding competitors. In rodents, pheromonal information is perceived by the main and accessory olfactory systems. However, the role of somatosensation in context-dependent learning and memorizing of pheromone locations remains unexplored. We addressed this problem by training female mice on a multimodal task to locate pheromones by sampling volatiles emanating from male urine through the orifices of varying dimensions or shapes that are sensed by their vibrissae. In this novel pheromone location assay, female mice' preference toward male urine scent decayed over time when they were permitted to explore pheromones vs neutral stimuli, water. On training them for the associations involving olfactory and whisker systems, it was established that they were able to memorize the location of opposite sex pheromones, when tested 15 days later. This memory was not formed either when the somatosensory inputs through whisker pad were blocked or when the pheromonal cues were replaced with that of same sex. The association between olfactory and somatosensory systems was further confirmed by the enhanced expression of the activity-regulated cytoskeleton protein. Furthermore, the activation of main olfactory bulb circuitry by pheromone volatiles did not cause any modulation in learning and memorizing non-pheromonal volatiles. Our study thus provides the evidence for associations formed between different sensory modalities facilitating the long-term memory formation relevant to social and reproductive behaviors.
Topics: Animals; Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Memory; Mice; Odorants; Olfactory Bulb; Olfactory Perception; Pheromones; Size Perception; Smell; Vibrissae
PubMed: 34407246
DOI: 10.1096/fj.202100167R -
Current Opinion in Psychology Jun 2020Humans build hierarchical relations, in which they coordinate according to rankings. Rankings need to be mentally represented in order to be communicated and... (Review)
Review
Humans build hierarchical relations, in which they coordinate according to rankings. Rankings need to be mentally represented in order to be communicated and constituted. These mental representations are grounded: They depend on the body and its interactions with the physical and social environment. The review reports evidence from four fields on the nature of this grounding. Work on nonverbal behavior shows that rank is inferred from various magnitudes related to bodily size and strength. Conversely, rank is envisioned using the same magnitudes. Schematized versions of these and other magnitude and dimensional cues influence cognition about ranks. Finally, cognition about ranks shows characteristics of magnitude. These lines of work converge in the conclusion that humans have developed a general representation of rank as a magnitude grounded in bodily size and strength.
Topics: Cognition; Cues; Hierarchy, Social; Humans; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Size Perception
PubMed: 31751922
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.09.012 -
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics May 2024The link between various codes of magnitude and their interactions has been studied extensively for many years. In the current study, we examined how the physical and...
The link between various codes of magnitude and their interactions has been studied extensively for many years. In the current study, we examined how the physical and numerical magnitudes of digits are mapped into a combined mental representation. In two psychophysical experiments, participants reported the physically larger digit among two digits. In the identical condition, participants compared digits of an identical value (e.g., "2" and "2"); in the different condition, participants compared digits of distinct numerical values (i.e., "2" and "5"). As anticipated, participants overestimated the physical size of a numerically larger digit and underestimated the physical size of a numerically smaller digit. Our results extend the shared-representation account of physical and numerical magnitudes.
Topics: Humans; Size Perception; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Male; Female; Young Adult; Judgment; Psychophysics; Adult; Attention; Discrimination, Psychological
PubMed: 38639857
DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02875-w -
Scientific Reports Sep 2018How numerical quantity is processed is a central issue for cognition. On the one hand the "number sense theory" claims that numerosity is perceived directly, and may...
How numerical quantity is processed is a central issue for cognition. On the one hand the "number sense theory" claims that numerosity is perceived directly, and may represent an early precursor for acquisition of mathematical skills. On the other, the "theory of magnitude" notes that numerosity correlates with many continuous properties such as size and density, and may therefore not exist as an independent feature, but be part of a more general system of magnitude. In this study we examined interactions in sensitivity between numerosity and size perception. In a group of children, we measured psychophysically two sensory parameters: perceptual adaptation and discrimination thresholds for both size and numerosity. Neither discrimination thresholds nor adaptation strength for numerosity and size correlated across participants. This clear lack of correlation (confirmed by Bayesian analyses) suggests that numerosity and size interference effects are unlikely to reflect a shared sensory representation. We suggest these small interference effects may rather result from top-down phenomena occurring at late decisional levels rather than a primary "sense of magnitude".
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Bayes Theorem; Child; Cognition; Decision Making; Discrimination, Psychological; Female; Humans; Male; Mathematics; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Size Perception
PubMed: 30206271
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31893-6 -
Scientific Reports Nov 2023Changes in perceived eye height influence visually perceived object size in both the real world and in virtual reality. In virtual reality, conflicts can arise between...
Changes in perceived eye height influence visually perceived object size in both the real world and in virtual reality. In virtual reality, conflicts can arise between the eye height in the real world and the eye height simulated in a VR application. We hypothesized that participants would be influenced more by variation in simulated eye height when they had a clear expectation about their eye height in the real world such as when sitting or standing, and less so when they did not have a clear estimate of the distance between their eyes and the real-life ground plane, e.g., when lying supine. Using virtual reality, 40 participants compared the height of a red square simulated at three different distances (6, 12, and 18 m) against the length of a physical stick (38.1 cm) held in their hands. They completed this task in all combinations of four real-life postures (supine, sitting, standing, standing on a table) and three simulated eye heights that corresponded to each participant's real-world eye height (123cm sitting; 161cm standing; 201cm on table; on average). Confirming previous results, the square's perceived size varied inversely with simulated eye height. Variations in simulated eye height affected participants' perception of size significantly more when sitting than in the other postures (supine, standing, standing on a table). This shows that real-life posture can influence the perception of size in VR. However, since simulated eye height did not affect size estimates less in the lying supine than in the standing position, our hypothesis that humans would be more influenced by variations in eye height when they had a reliable estimate of the distance between their eyes and the ground plane in the real world was not fully confirmed.
Topics: Humans; Size Perception; Posture; Standing Position; Eye; Sitting Position
PubMed: 37974023
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47364-6 -
Vision Research Jun 2022The perceived size of an object depends on its spatial context, in addition to its projected image on the retina and perceived distance. However, how these factors...
The perceived size of an object depends on its spatial context, in addition to its projected image on the retina and perceived distance. However, how these factors interact with each other to affect perceived object size is still not clear. In this study, we manipulated the binocular disparity of images to assess the effect of perceived distance on perceived object size, as well as background element size to assess the effect of context. The perceived target size under different combinations of perceived distance and context was measured with a two-interval forced-choice paradigm, in which one interval contained a standard disk with a textured background while the other contained a comparison disk on a blank background in each trial. The observers were instructed to indicate which interval contained a larger disk. A staircase procedure was used to measure the point of subjective equality for the perceived target size. Our results showed that the perceived target size increased with the perceived distance while decreased with background element size. In addition, context modulated the relationship between the perceived target size and perceived distance. The data can be explained by a computational model that incorporates several size selective channels whose size sensitivity to a stimulus can be modulated by its disparity. The target response of each channel is subjected to the divisive inhibition signal from the size information in the context. The perceived size is determined by the weighted average of the responses of these size channels. This model can explain more than 91% of variability in the averaged data. Thus, while both perceived distance and context can affect the perceived size of an object, they exert the effect through different mechanisms.
Topics: Distance Perception; Humans; Size Perception; Vision Disparity
PubMed: 35286904
DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2022.108024 -
Journal of Vision Dec 2017Size adaptation describes the tendency of the visual system to adjust neural responsiveness of size representations after prolonged exposure to particular stimulations....
Size adaptation describes the tendency of the visual system to adjust neural responsiveness of size representations after prolonged exposure to particular stimulations. A larger (or smaller) adaptor stimulus influences the perceived size of a similar test stimulus shown subsequently. Size adaptation may emerge on various processing levels. Functional representations of the adaptor to which the upcoming stimulus is adapted may be coded early in the visual system mainly reflecting retinal size. Alternatively, size adaptation may involve higher order processes that take into account additional information such as an object's estimated distance from the observer, hence reflecting perceived size. The present study investigated whether size adaptation is based on the retinal or the perceived size of an adaptor stimulus. A stimulus' physical and perceived sizes were orthogonally varied using perceived depth via binocular disparity, employing polarized 3D glasses. Four different adaptors were used, which varied in physical size, perceived size, or both. Two pairs of adaptors which were identical in physical size did not cause significantly different adaptation effects although they elicited different perceived sizes which were sufficiently large to produce differential aftereffects when induced by stimuli that physically differed in size. In contrast, there was a significant aftereffect when adaptors differed in physical size but were matched in perceived size. Size adaptation was thus unaffected by perceived size and binocular disparity. Our data suggest that size adaptation emerges from neural stages where information from both eyes is still coded in separate channels without binocular interactions, such as the lateral geniculate nucleus.
Topics: Adaptation, Ocular; Adolescent; Adult; Depth Perception; Female; Humans; Male; Photic Stimulation; Retina; Size Perception; Vision Disparity; Young Adult
PubMed: 29228141
DOI: 10.1167/17.14.8 -
PloS One 2020When people judge the weight of two objects of equal mass but different size, they perceive the smaller one as being heavier. Up to date, there is no consensus about the...
When people judge the weight of two objects of equal mass but different size, they perceive the smaller one as being heavier. Up to date, there is no consensus about the mechanisms which give rise to this size-weight illusion. We recently suggested a model that describes heaviness perception as a weighted average of two sensory heaviness estimates with correlated noise: one estimate derived from mass, the other one derived from density. The density estimate is first derived from mass and size, but at the final perceptual level, perceived heaviness is biased by an object's density, not by its size. Here, we tested the models' prediction that weight discrimination of equal-size objects is better in lifting conditions which are prone to the size-weight illusion as compared to conditions lacking (the essentially uninformative) size information. This is predicted because in these objects density covaries with mass, and according to the model density serves as an additional sensory cue. Participants performed a two-interval forced-choice weight discrimination task. We manipulated the quality of either haptic (Experiment 1) or visual (Experiment 2) size information and measured just-noticeable differences (JNDs). Both for the haptic and the visual illusion, JNDs were lower in lifting conditions in which size information was available. Thus, when heaviness perception can be influenced by an object's density, it is more reliable. This discrimination benefit under conditions that provide the additional information that objects are of equal size is further support for the role of density and the integration of sensory estimates in the size-weight illusion.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Differential Threshold; Female; Humans; Illusions; Male; Size Perception; Weight Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 32706795
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236440 -
Experimental Brain Research Nov 2012Humans routinely estimate the size and weight of objects. Yet, when lifting two objects of equal weight but different size, they often perceive the smaller object as...
Humans routinely estimate the size and weight of objects. Yet, when lifting two objects of equal weight but different size, they often perceive the smaller object as being heavier. This size-weight illusion (SWI) is known to have a lesser effect on motor control of object lifting. How the nervous system combines "weight" and "size" cues with prior experience and whether these cues are differentially integrated for perception and sensorimotor action is still not fully understood. Therefore, we assessed not only whether the experience of size biases weight perception, but also if experience of weight biases the size perception of objects. Further, to investigate differences between perceptual and motor systems for cue-experience integration, participants haptically explored the weight of an object with one hand and then shaped the aperture of their other hand to indicate its perceived size. Results-First, next to a SWI, healthy adults (N = 21) perceived lighter objects as being smaller and heavier objects as being larger, demonstrating a weight-size illusion (WSI). Second, participants were more susceptible to either the SWI or WSI. Third, aperture of the non-exploring hand was scaled to perceived weight and not to physical size. Hand openings were consistently smaller than physical size, with SWI-sensitive participants being significantly more affected than WSI-sensitive subjects. We conclude: first, both size and weight perceptions are biased by prior experience. Weight perception is biased by expectations of size, while size perception is influenced by the expectancy of weight. Second, humans have the tendency to use one cue predominantly for both types of perception. Third, combining perceived weight with expected size influenced hand motor control, while online haptic feedback was largely ignored. Finally, we present a processing model underlying the size-weight cue integration for the perceptual and motor system.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Cues; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Female; Hand; Humans; Illusions; Judgment; Male; Photic Stimulation; Psychomotor Performance; Size Perception; Weight Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 22968739
DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3247-9 -
Perception Jul 2023The Ebbinghaus and Delboeuf illusions affect the perceived size of a target circle depending on the size and proximity of circular inducers or a ring. Converging...
The Ebbinghaus and Delboeuf illusions affect the perceived size of a target circle depending on the size and proximity of circular inducers or a ring. Converging evidence suggests that these illusions are driven by interactions between contours mediated by their cortical distance in primary visual cortex. We tested the effect of cortical distance on these illusions using two methods: First, we manipulated retinal distance between target and inducers in a two-interval forced choice design, finding that targets appeared larger with a closer surround. Next, we predicted that targets presented peripherally should appear larger due to cortical magnification. Hence, we tested the illusion strength when positioning the stimuli at various eccentricities, with results supporting this hypothesis. We calculated estimated cortical distances between illusion elements in each experiment and used these estimates to compare the relationship between cortical distance and illusion strength across our experiments. In a final experiment, we modified the Delboeuf illusion to test whether the influence of the inducers/annuli in this illusion is influenced by an inhibitory surround. We found evidence that an additional outer ring makes targets appear smaller compared to a single-ring condition, suggesting that near and distal contours have antagonistic effects on perceived target size.
Topics: Humans; Illusions; Optical Illusions; Size Perception; Gravitation; Retina
PubMed: 37335155
DOI: 10.1177/03010066231175014