A Neural Network Model of Cortical Auditory-visual Interactions. A Neurocomputational Analysis of the Shams-Illusion

The perception of the external world is based on the integration of data from different sensory modalities. Recent theories and experimental findings have suggested that this phenomenon is present since the early low-level cortical areas. The mechanisms underlying these early processes and the organization of the underlying circuitries is still a matter of debate. Here, by using a simple neural network to reproduce and analyse a well-known cross-modal illusion occurring in the visual cortex, we suggest that a fundamental role is played by direct excitatory synapses between visual and auditory regions.