Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of human MT+ reduces apparent motion perception

Abstract

We investigated the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the human cerebral cortex on apparent motion perception. Previous studies have shown that human extrastriate visual area MT+ (V5) processes not only real but also apparent motion. However, the functional relevance of MT+ on long-range apparent motion perception remains unclear. Here, we show direct evidence for the involvement of MT+ in apparent motion perception using rTMS, which is known to temporarily inhibit a localized region in the cerebral cortex. The results showed that apparent motion perception decreased after applying rTMS over MT+, but not after applying rTMS over the control region (inferior temporal gyrus). The decrease in performance caused by applying rTMS to MT+ suggests that MT+ is a causally responsible region for apparent motion perception, and thus, further supports the idea that MT+ plays a major role in the perception of motion.