Sensation versus Perception - Visual Illusions

A given sensory system wether that being the somatosensory, auditory, gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), electrosensation, vestibular or infra red systems convey information from sensory receptors to the central nervous system. A fundamental goal of sensory neuroscience is the characterisation of the functional relationship between environmental stimuli and neural response.

An environmental stimulus activates a sensory receptor which captures this information and causes a sensation which we percept. It is important to know that sensation is an abstraction and not a replication of the real world. You can see this in visual illusions.

The visual illusion shown seems like the centre stages are of different size but they are the same. The brain makes comparisons of the target. The brain judges size by comparing objects to other things in the surroundings.

We are not aware of objects themselves but of neural signals about them that are transmitted through our nerves. Perception is a dynamic cognitive process of interpreting information. It is also learned and is an interpretative process which is subject to influence of other psycho-physiological processes such as emotion, motivation and culture.

This is an introductory Hub to Sensory neuroscience and I will be following it up with future hubs on the following topics

• Sensory Ecology
• Visual System
• Gustation
• Olfaction
• Auditory System