ABSTRACT
Since the advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging cognitive science has experienced a turn towards neuroscience. Models of perceptual and cognitive functions can now be tested against patterns of human brain activity in anatomically well-defined regions of interest. Structural and functional connectivity analyzes can inform us about how different brain regions are interconnected and interact in perceptual and cognitive tasks, as well as during resting states. In this study we review the results of a series of experiments that aimed to reveal the visual-vestibular sensory processing underlying self-motion perception. We localized regions in the posterior insula using fMRI with visual and vestibular stimuli. The results suggest that two areas in this part of the brain are involved in self-motion perception: The parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC) for the processing of vestibular information and posterior insular cortex (PIC) for the integration of visual and vestibular information. We present the results of probabilistic tractography based on diffusion-tensor imaging indicating that PIVC and PIC exhibit different patterns of connectivity to other brain areas. The results suggest that these two regions play different roles in the integration of visual and vestibular cues related to self-motion perception.
