DMCA
Eye closure in darkness animates sensory systems (2003)
| Citations: | 5 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@MISC{Marx03eyeclosure,
author = {Esther Marx and Thomas Stephan and Annina Nolte and Angela Deutschländer and Klaus C. Seelos and Marianne Dieterich and Thomas Brandt},
title = {Eye closure in darkness animates sensory systems},
year = {2003}
}
Share
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
OpenURL
Abstract
Single subject and group analyses (n = 12) showed that the eyes-open and eyes-closed states in complete darkness considerably and consistently differ in the patterns of associated brain activation in fMRI. During nonchanging external stimulation, ocular motor and attentional systems were activated when the eyes were open; the visual, somatosensory, vestibular, and auditory systems were activated when the eyes were closed. These data suggest that there are two different states of mental activity: with the eyes closed, an “interoceptive” state characterized by imagination and multisensory activity and with the eyes open, an “exteroceptive ” state characterized by attention and ocular motor activity. Our study also shows that the chosen baseline condition may have a considerable impact on activation patterns and on the interpretation of brain activation studies.
Keyphrases
darkness animates sensory system eye closure multisensory activity nonchanging external stimulation ocular motor different state considerable impact ocular motor activity eyes-closed state chosen baseline condition auditory system complete darkness interoceptive state attentional system exteroceptive state group analysis associated brain activation mental activity single subject activation pattern brain activation study
