Neuro-informatics and the neurology of perception

Abstract

In the preceding pages a description was given of spatial behaviour and spatial perception. Orientation in space develops under the guidance of a directional frame of reference. The formative power of this spatial organisation is gravity and anti-gravity by which throughout evolution the architecture of the body and its axial layout are shaped. There are no local signs at the surface of the body enabling us to read from them directions and orientations. Locomotion requires equilibrium. It is carried out by articulated limbs. The nervous system modulates the motor patterns dictated by physical forces. Peripheral control loops keep the limbs manageable. Higher levels of control organize control loops among each other. Their activity has the status of operations. As soon as animals are capable of locomotion orientation is based on relationships with objects, with a stable background in particular. As motor organisation develops spatial relationships become more complex. In the case of active touch the shape of an object is determined by manipulation, which is a form of scanning. Tactile scanning combines the features of sampling, tracking and measuring: f.e. solidity, weight, curvature, size. Manipulation is guided by the spatial frame of reference. The innumerable tactile impulses, many of them not perceived separately, are not the primary material of information. Only by ordering the impressions, by discriminating between noise and relevant events is the tactile experience guided by expectations transformed into information. The organism stops manipulating as soon as the scanning procedure has enabled it to match the shape under investigation with the spatial patterns it has at its disposal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)