Thesis defense by Emmanuelle Bonnet

Friday February 2, 2024, at 14:00, Faculté de Médecine, Salle de thèse 2 (bâtiment de médecine, 1er étage aile bleue)

Emmanuelle Bonnet, InVibe team (Inférence et Comportements visuels) and ONERA (Ingénierie Cognitive et Neurosciences Appliquées), DTIS – ICNA

Action in temporal and visual perception: an investigation of the modulation of sensory predictions and causality on perception

Jury:
Lionel Brunel (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Président du jury, Rapporteur
Valérian Chambon (Institut Jean Nicod, CNRS), Rapporteur
Iria SanMiguel (University of Barcelona), Examinatrice
Simone Schütz-Bosbach (LMU Munich), Examinatrice
Guillaume Masson (INT, CNRS), Co-directeur de thèse 
Andrea Desantis (INCC, ONERA) Directeur de thèse

Abstract: Agency is defined as our ability to control actions and their sensory consequences. Prior research showed that stimuli generated by our own actions are processed differently compared to those produced by external sources. For instance, self-generated stimuli are perceived as occurring earlier in time (intentional binding) and with less intensity (sensory attenuation). My doctoral thesis explores the mechanisms underlying these differences in sensory processing, and examines the influence of action, predictions, and causality on temporal and visual perception. With three experiments, I examined how causing the appearance of a stimulus (Experiment 3) and the ability to predict its identity (Experiment 1, 2, 3) shape the perceived temporal order of actions and sensory outcomes. I observed that the simple act of acting, compared to observing, affects time perception akin to intentional binding. Furthermore, outcome predictions do not impact temporal judgment, while they modify causal judgments. Individuals tend to consider an event as being generated by their actions when it’s consistent with their predictions, even if it actually preceded their action. In the context of visual perception, my two experiments revealed that self-generated stimuli are better encoded and perceived that externally generated stimuli (Experiment 4). Furthermore, the degree of control an individual has over the movement of a stimulus facilitates its detection (Experiment 5). In summary, my research highlights the constant influence of action on temporal and visual perception. Actively generated stimuli are better discriminated and perceived faster than those generated externally or with lower control. The effect of action on time perception appears independent of outcome predictions, while our ability to predict the identity of a sensory consequence is one of the critical factors in the experience of causality.