The Organization and Plasticity of Multisensory Integration in the Midbrain

Excerpt

A great deal of attention has been paid to the physiological processes through which the brain integrates information from different senses. This reflects the substantial impact of this process on perception, cognitive decisions, and overt behavior. Yet, less attention has been given to the postnatal development, organization, and plasticity associated with this process. In the present chapter we examine what is known about the normal development of multisensory integration and how early alterations in postnatal experience disrupt, change, and dramatically alter the fundamental properties of multisensory integration. The focus here is on the multisensory layers of the cat superior colliculus (SC), a system that has served as an excellent model for understanding multisensory integration at the level of the single neuron and at the level of overt orientation behavior. Before discussing this structure’s normal development and its capacity to change, it is important to examine what has been learned about multisensory integration and the functional role of the SC in this process.