<P> Research on sensory processing has much to offer towards understanding the function of the brain as a whole . The primary task of multisensory integration is to figure out and sort out the vast quantities of sensory information in the body through multiple sensory modalities . These modalities not only are not independent, but they are also quite complementary . Where one sensory modality may give information on one part of a situation, another modality can pick up other necessary information . Bringing this information together facilitates the better understanding of the physical world around us . </P> <P> It may seem redundant that we are being provided with multiple sensory inputs about the same object, but that is not necessarily the case . This so - called "redundant" information is in fact verification that what we are experiencing is in fact happening . Perceptions of the world are based on models that we build of the world . Sensory information informs these models, but this information can also confuse the models . Sensory illusions occur when these models do not match up . For example, where our visual system may fool us in one case, our auditory system can bring us back to a ground reality . This prevents sensory misrepresentations, because through the combination of multiple sensory modalities, the model that we create is much more robust and gives a better assessment of the situation . Thinking about it logically, it is far easier to fool one sense than it is to simultaneously fool two or more senses . </P> <P> One of the earliest sensations is the olfactory sensation . Evolutionary, gustation and olfaction developed together . This multisensory integration was necessary for early humans in order to ensure that they were receiving proper nutrition from their food, and also to make sure that they were not consuming poisonous materials . There are several other sensory integrations that developed early on in the human evolutionary time line . The integration between vision and audition was necessary for spatial mapping . Integration between vision and tactile sensations developed along with our finer motor skills including better hand - eye coordination . While humans developed into bipedal organisms, balance became exponentially more essential to survival . The multisensory integration between visual inputs, vestibular (balance) inputs, and proprioception inputs played an important role in our development into upright walkers . </P> <P> Perhaps one of the most studied sensory integrations is the relationship between vision and audition . These two senses perceive the same objects in the world in different ways, and by combining the two, they help us understand this information better . Vision dominates our perception of the world around us . This is because visual spatial information is one of the most reliable sensory modalities . Visual stimuli are recorded directly onto the retina, and there are few, if any, external distortions that provide incorrect information to the brain about the true location of an object . Other spatial information is not as reliable as visual spatial information . For example, consider auditory spatial input . The location of an object can sometimes be determined solely on its sound, but the sensory input can easily be modified or altered, thus giving a less reliable spatial representation of the object . Auditory information therefore is not spatially represented unlike visual stimuli . But once one has the spatial mapping from the visual information, multisensory integration helps bring the information from both the visual and auditory stimuli together to make a more robust mapping . </P>

Where is the information from our senses processed first in the cortex