Sensory modalities are not separate modalities: plasticity and interactions.
Historically, perception has been viewed as a modular function, with the different sensory modalities operating independently of each other. Recent behavioral and brain imaging studies challenge this view, by suggesting that cross-modal interactions are the rule and not the exception in perception, and that the cortical pathways previously thought to be sensory-specific are modulated by signals from other modalities.
Shimojo
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Division of Biology, Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, BI 139-74, 91125, Pasadena, CA 37203, USA. sshimojo@caltech.edu
Shams
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D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013016:Sound; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology