corner
corner
APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 90 » Issue 21
< Previous Article | Next Article >

Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 218103 (2003) [4 pages]

Behavioral Stochastic Resonance within the Human Brain

Download: PDF (149 kB) Buy this article Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

Keiichi Kitajo1,2, Daichi Nozaki3, Lawrence M. Ward2, and Yoshiharu Yamamoto1,4
1Educational Physiology Laboratory, Graduate School of Education, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
2Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
3Department of Motor Dysfunction, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled, 4-1 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8555, Japan
4PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Saitama 332-0012, Japan

Received 22 January 2003; published 30 May 2003

See accompanying Physics Focus

We provide the first evidence that stochastic resonance within the human brain can enhance behavioral responses to weak sensory inputs. We asked subjects to adjust handgrip force to a slowly changing, subthreshold gray level signal presented to their right eye. Behavioral responses were optimized by presenting randomly changing gray levels separately to the left eye. The results indicate that observed behavioral stochastic resonance was mediated by neural activity within the human brain where the information from both eyes converges.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.218103
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.218103
PACS:
87.19.Bb, 05.40.Ca, 87.19.Dd
 
< Previous Article | Next Article >