Make a decision about it, what the image we are seeing shows changes that, as we see him. Our brain is suggestive and allows us to see it, what we want to see – scientists from the USA argue in the pages of the latest issue of the weekly “Nature”. Until now it was considered, that all animals and humans make decisions through hierarchical activation of neurons in the nervous system. A simplified mechanism was assumed, that the activity of sensory neurons (responsible for transmitting stimuli from the outside world, i.e. nerve impulses from the sensory organs) directly affects the activation of neurons involved in the relevant parts of the brain for making decisions. Hendrikje Nienborg and Bruce Cumming of the National Eye Institute demonstrated, that it may also be the other way around – once a decision is made strengthens our feeling, that it is correct by altering the activity of sensory neurons, which changes our perception of our surroundings.
Researchers investigated the monkeys' decision-making strategy when presenting them with ambiguous images. Turned out, that the reaction of sensory neurons does not depend only on the image perceived by the eyes, but also from the decision made by the monkeys about it, what they see. In other words, making a decision about what we see, actively changes what we really see.
