The Brain’s Sense of Movement PDF
Preview The Brain’s Sense of Movement
Translated by Giselle Weiss Stephen M. Kosslyn GENERAL EDITOR AlaiBne rthoz Translated by Giselle Weiss HARVARUDN IVERSIPTRY ESS Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England Copyright © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Printed in the United States of America First published in France as Le Sens du Mouvement Copyright © Editions Odile Jacob, 1997 Published with the assistance of the French Ministry of Culture-CNL Pages 327-328 constitute an extension of the copyright page Library of Congrses Cataloging-in-PublicatioDna ta Berthoz, A. [Sens du Mouvement. English] The brain's sense of movement I Alain Berthoz ; translated by Giselle Weiss. p. cm. - (Perspectives in cognitive neuroscience) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-674-80109-1 (cloth) ISBN 0-674-00980-0 (paper) 1. Motion perception (Vision) 2. Orientation (Physiology) 3. Proprioception. 4. Brain. 5. Neuropsychology. I. Title. II. Series. QP493 .847 2000 612.8'2-dcZl 00-023758 FOREWORTDO THEA MERICANE DITION This book was published in 1997. Science moves fast, and many new ideas and observations have emerged in the intervening time. Yet the ideas proposed in this book have, if anything, been reinforced by recent knowledge about the brain. I did not think it useful to revise all the references, but I have included a number of papers published by our laboratory or close collaborators since 1997. I have also included a number of reviews from 1998 and 1999 in which the reader will find more general recent references. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Odile Jacob, who agreed to publish the French edition of this book at the suggestion of Jean-Pierre Changeu x and who saw it through production with the combination of keen intuition and professionalism that is her trademark. Mountain climbers need a guide. Writing a book is a little like climbing a mountain. The guide knows the way to the top, avoiding loose rocks and haz ardous trails. He knows the moods of the mountain and its traditions. He keeps everyone on course, makes detours when needed, sets the pace, and transforms the climb step by step into a rewarding human adventure. My edi torial guide for this book was Gerard Jorland. The breadth of his knowledge as a philosopher and historian, his generosity, his trust, and his critical comments helped me, encouraged me, and touched me. Maya, you accompan ied this book. In form as well as in substance, you helped me to make it not only readable but understandable. The work of our laboratory would not have been possible without the support of the Centre Nationa l de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Cen tre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and the College de France, which managed simultaneously to have faith in us, to rigorously evaluate our work, and to tolerate the gambles that are necessary for new ideas to emerge. I would also like to thank the people who willingly read parts of the manuscript, my friends and colleagues Pierre Buisseret, Valerie Cornilleau Peres, Jacques Droulez , Jean-Rene Duhamel, Werner Graf, Alexej Grantyn , Isabelle Israel, Joseph McIntyre, Edmund Rolls, Jean-Michel Roy, Jean-Jacques Slotine, Yves Trotter , Pierre-Paul Vidal, Paolo Viviani, Sidney Wiener, as well as our entire laboratory team, who carried out the experiments described here. I am grateful to the journal La Recherchef or permission to reproduce a portion of the text and illustrations that appeared in a special issue on the brain in 1996. I am also grateful to Solange Fanjat de Saint Font for editorial help and for assembling the bibliography Her expertise was critical in bringing this difficult project to completion. And last but not least, I thank Frederic Lacloche, whose computer graphics skill I admire. He adapted the illustrations. Finally, I am most grateful to Giselle Weiss who translated this book in English with remarkable speed, exceptional insight into what I wanted to say, and a wide and deep culture, which has earned my admiration. My gratitude also extends to the tearn at Harvard University Press for the thorough profes sionalism with which they handled this project. The translator is deeply indebted to Greer Ilene Gilman and Barbara Breasted Whitesides for editorial and research assistance. viii· ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PERCEPTIONls SIMULATEDA CTION 9 The Motor Theory of Perception 9 The Concept of Acceptor of the Results of Action II Bernstein 's Comparator 13 Memory Predicts the Consequences of Action 17 Mental Nodes 19 Mirror Neurons 20 Simulation , Emulation, or Representation? 21 2 THE SENSEO F MOVEMENTA: SIXTHS ENSE? 25 Proprioception 27 The Vestibulary System: An Inertial Center? 32 The Functions of the Vestibular System 43 Seeing Movement 50 3 BUILDINGC OHERENCE 57 How Vision Detects Movement 60 Visual Movement and Vestibular Receptors 64 Am I in my Bed or Hanging from the Ceiling? 69 The Coherence between Seeing and Hearing 77 The Problem of the Coherence and Unity of Perception 90 Autism: The Disintegration of Coherence? 93
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