Visuo-haptic object processing in the multisensory brain

Abstract

Abstract It is now over 20 years since the old orthodoxy of the brain as organized around discrete sensory channels feeding into higher-order multisensory convergence zones was challenged by the concept of a ‘metamodal’ brain with an inherently multisensory, task-based organization. This chapter concentrates on interactions between vision and touch in object perception and recognition, and the neural bases of such interactions. The chapter discusses the evidence for a model of visuo-haptic object recognition that takes into account object familiarity and the idea that visual imagery comprises object and spatial dimensions, and the resulting inferences that can be drawn about the underlying representation of object shape.