Contrary neuronal recalibration in different multisensory cortical areas

Abstract

The adult brain demonstrates remarkable multisensory plasticity by dynamically recalibrating itself based on information from multiple sensory sources. After a systematic visual–vestibular heading offset is experienced, the unisensory perceptual estimates for subsequently presented stimuli are shifted toward each other (in opposite directions) to reduce the conflict. The neural substrate of this recalibration is unknown. Here, we recorded single-neuron activity from the dorsal medial superior temporal (MSTd), parietoinsular vestibular cortex (PIVC), and ventral intraparietal (VIP) areas in three male rhesus macaques during this visual–vestibular recalibration. Both visual and vestibular neuronal tuning curves in MSTd shifted – each according to their respective cues’ perceptual shifts. Tuning of vestibular neurons in PIVC also shifted in the same direction as vestibular perceptual shifts (cells were not robustly tuned to the visual stimuli). By contrast, VIP neurons demonstrated a unique phenomenon: both vestibular and visual tuning shifted in accordance with vestibular perceptual shifts. Such that, visual tuning shifted, surprisingly, contrary to visual perceptual shifts. Therefore, while unsupervised recalibration (to reduce cue conflict) occurs in early multisensory cortices, higher-level VIP reflects only a global shift, in vestibular space.