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Scientists from around the world meet up in the 5th International Multisensory Research Forum.

By 28 de May de 2004November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 28.05.2004

Scientists from around the world meet up in the 5th International Multisensory Research Forum.

How does the brain integrate the sensory stimulation from our environment? How do lesions or deficits affect the detection of stimuli? These and other questions on perception, memory, dyslexia, vision and neuronal plasticity will be discussed by more than 200 experts in neurosciences during the between 2 and 5 June in Sitges.


This year the IMRF is organized by the , located in premises of the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB) at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, in collaboration with an international scientific committee of experts from several universities. The Forum is also supported by the Dept. of Basic Psychology at the Universitat de Barcelona (University of Barcelona), the Spanish Society for Experimental Psychology (SEPEX), the Ministry of Science and Technology and the PCB, among others.

The IMRF aims to stimulate communication among scientists that work in sensory situations where more than one modality is involved, such as sight, hearing or touch. In this regard, the forum spans several scientific disciplines that focus on a wide range of fields such as neurophysiology, cognition, computation or those related to development and behaviour, among others.

In addition to these disciplines, several companies linked to marketing or publicity are currently paying close attention to studies on multisensory integration. These companies are showing increasing interest in the study of phenomena that are easily applicable and related to day-to-day life, such as attention while driving, the effect of colours, objects and shapes of food preference,…

The meeting programme this year includes contributions of prominent researchers, such as Leonardo Cohen, from the National Institutes of Health, USA, who will give a presentation entitled ” Cross—modal plasticity in blind humans”, focused on the effects of blindness on brain processing of touch. Leonardo Cohen is one of the leading world experts in the study of visual deficiencies and the function of brain regions.

Joaquín Fuster, from the University of California- Los Angeles, will give a keynote lecture on “Cross-modal and temporal integration in primate cortex”. Joaquín Fuster is a world authority on the neural substrates of the frontal lobule, the most voluminous anatomical area of the central nervous system, located in the forebrain and responsible for several higher cognitive functions involving voluntary behaviour.

The closing lecture will be delivered by John Prescott, from the James Cook University of Australia, who will present his work on “Odour/taste integration and perception of flavour: the role of attention and experience”.

The GRNC, which focuses its research lines on the processes involved in perception and the production of language, with special emphasis on the bilingual population, will also contribute to the event with several poster presentations on their recent research.

The most original and innovative presentations of this meeting will be published in a special edition of the journal Experimental Brain Research.

For more information on the Forum, please go to .