Seeing a Bayesian ghost: Sensorimotor activation leads to an illusory social perception

iScience

Imme C. Zillekens¹  Dariusz O'Leary²  Leonhard Schilbach³  Elisabeth V.C. Friedrich³  Eva Victoria Seegenschmiedt³  Paul Sauseng³  Johannes Singer³  Anna Lena Biel⁴ 

[1] Corresponding author;International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany;Department of Psychology, Research Unit Biological Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany;Independent Max Planck Research Group for Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany;

关键词: Sensory neuroscience;    Cognitive neuroscience;    Techniques in neuroscience;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Summary: Based on our prior experiences we form social expectations and anticipate another person’s response. Under certain conditions, these expectations can be so strong that they lead to illusory perception of another person who is actually not there (i.e., seeing a Bayesian ghost). We used EEG to investigate the neural correlates of such illusory social perception. Our results showed that activation of the premotor cortex predicted the occurrence of the Bayesian ghost, whereas its actual appearance was later accompanied by activation in sensorimotor and adjacent parietal regions. These findings confirm that our perception of others is so strongly affected by prior expectations, in such a way they can prompt illusory social perceptions associated with activity change in brain regions relevant for action perception. They also contribute to a better understanding of social interaction in healthy individuals as well as persons with mental illnesses, which can be characterized by illusory perception and social interaction difficulties.

【 授权许可】

Unknown