Abstract Visual motion stimuli can induce the perception of self-motion in stationary observers (known as vection). In the present study, we investigated the sensory processing underlying vection by measuring the human event-related brain potentials (ERPs) elicited by the movement onset of a visual stimulus. We presented participants a visual stimulus consisting of alternating black-and-white vertical bars that moved in horizontal direction, creating the sensation of vection. The stimulus was presented on a screen that was divided into a central and a surrounding peripheral visual area. Both areas moved independently from each other, resulting in four different movement patterns: the peripheral and the central stimulus moved in the same or opposite direction, or one of the two visual areas of the stimulus moved while the other remained stable. In addition, two different stimulus types varying with respect to the bars’ width (narrow vs. wide) were used. Participants were presented with these stimuli in two phases of the experiment: During EEG-recording, only short phases (2.5–3.5 ms) of visual motion were applied. In a separate rating phase, visual motion was presented for 45 s. In this phase, vection onset, intensity, and duration were verbally recorded. Overall, the visual stimulation generated vection with different intensities (i.e., weakest vection with sole central stimulus movement). Stimulus type did not affect vection. In the ERPs, stimulus onset elicited parieto-occipital P2 and N2 components. The amplitudes of the ERP components differed significantly between the four movement patterns (irrespective of stimulus type), however, they did not fully align with the subjective vection ratings. Since the ERPs are associated with early sensory processing preceding vection, we argue that the ERPs mirror the contribution of sensory cortical processes to vection rather than the subjective sensation of vection per se.

中文翻译：

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通过事件相关脑电位 (ERP) 测量的矢量诱导视觉刺激的早期皮层处理

摘要 视觉运动刺激可以引起静止观察者的自运动感知（称为矢量）。在本研究中，我们通过测量由视觉刺激的运动开始引起的人类事件相关脑电位 (ERP) 来研究潜在的感觉处理。我们向参与者展示了由交替的黑白垂直条组成的视觉刺激，这些垂直条在水平方向上移动，产生了运动感。刺激呈现在屏幕上，屏幕分为中央和周围的外围视觉区域。两个区域彼此独立移动，导致四种不同的运动模式：外围和中央刺激以相同或相反的方向移动，或者刺激的两个视觉区域之一移动而另一个保持稳定。此外，使用了两种不同的刺激类型，这些刺激类型因条的宽度（窄与宽）而异。参与者在实验的两个阶段接受这些刺激：在 EEG 记录期间，仅应用短阶段（2.5-3.5 毫秒）的视觉运动。在单独的评级阶段，视觉运动呈现 45 秒。在这个阶段，口头记录了矢量的开始、强度和持续时间。总体而言，视觉刺激产生了不同强度的矢量（即，具有唯一中央刺激运动的最弱矢量）。刺激类型不影响矢量。在 ERP 中，刺激开始引起顶枕 P2 和 N2 成分。ERP 成分的幅度在四种运动模式之间存在显着差异（与刺激类型无关），然而，它们并不完全符合主观矢量评级。由于 ERP 与运动前的早期感觉加工有关，我们认为 ERP 反映了感觉皮层过程对运动的贡献，而不是运动本身的主观感觉。