Sensory modalities are not separate modalities: plasticity and interactions

Historically, perception has been viewed as a modular function, with the di fferent sensory modalities operating independently of each other. Recent be havioral and brain imaging studies challenge this view, by suggesting that cross-modal interactions are the rule and not the exception in perception, and that the cortical pathways previously thought to be sensory-specific ar e modulated by signals from other modalities.