An introduction to "the neuroscience of perceptual integration"

An important goal in the study of object, word, and face perception is to understand how the brain integrates various visual features-the binding process. Along with the progress of knowledge of the neurophysiological properties of integration processes in cortical areas, a number of psychophysical, neuropsychological, and computational studies have provided information about how and in what conditions the visual system combines different signals across time and space, the factors that modulate integration processes, the local processes that control larger scale integration, and how the mechanisms can be implemented physiologically. This special issue is aimed at summarizing recent data about integration processes based on investigations ranging from the neurochemical substrate of integration processes, the role of attention in integrating characteristics, the spatial and temporal integration of local signals into coherent percepts, the integration of visual information during the programming of saccade, and what remains when integration fails in neurologically impaired patients.