If You Can't See it, Feel it!

Have you ever stared at something so long that you started to think it was actually moving? You're not crazy! This is actually an illusion called "motion aftereffect". Nine years ago in the year 2000, neurologist Christopher Moore, at MIT in Cambridge, found that when a device vibrated onto a subject's fingertips there was activity seen in the visual motion detector in the brain. These findings were dismissed because prior to these unusual, "unimportant" results, everybody thought the brain processed the senses on their own and combines the senses when the brain interprets them.

So much for tossing these results! For the past five years motion aftereffect has been research thoroughly. This first started using blind subjects and observing the brain interactions when the subjects read Braille. The Braille actually triggered the brain's visual cortex. These results were written off by saying that the brain was working to compensate for the blindness. However, this wasn't enough for Moore and another graduate student, Talia Konkle, and they researched some more. They wanted to know if this occurred in people that didn't suffer from blindness.

With the help of "DaVinci", a small tactile simulator that taps patterns with a centimeter box of pins on the subjects' hands, they could answer some questions. Eight subjects watched a whit screen as dark stripes fell across it. After viewing the stripes the people felt DaVinci tap the pins across their fingertips while they viewed a stationary stripe. Surprisingly, motion aftereffect transferred between senses in the brain. Those who watched the moving stripes thought the pins were moving across their fingers while those who watched the stationary stripes felt the opposite sensation from DaVinci.

These findings suggested a deeper connection between the senses rather than working on their own and then being put together when it came to how our brain perceives things. In other words, what we touch might slightly alter what we see. Moore and Konkle are trying to use their results to find exactly where in the brain the sensory interaction happens. They will eventually try to use these facts to help in rehabilitation approaches for stroke victims or victims of other brain injuries that impair vision and/or touch.

Crystal Cabral (Group A)

Update: Wow, sorry about the spelling errors. I did this really late at night it's not very like me to post something with so many errors. Pretty embarrassing. Aside from that, it seems like many people think this is hard to believe. I don't necessary believe all of it as well, but I'm sure if I were to pay more attention to things like this I'd notice it and understand it better.