MST (medial superior temporal)

acid house boom bap, dembow balkan brass band, afro-jazz carnatic · 4:16

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Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Deep inside your temporal lobe there's a zone called MST
Takes the signals from MT and builds a bigger mystery
When you're walking down the hallway, driving through the countryside
All that motion flowing past you gets processed and refined

[Chorus]
MST reads the optic flow
Expansion, contraction, rotation show
Where you're heading, how you're moving through space
Motion patterns guide your path and stabilize your gaze
MST, medial superior T
Downstream processing, setting your body free

[Verse 2]
Picture standing in a tunnel with the walls expanding wide
That's the signal MST loves when you're moving straight inside
Spiral patterns, swirling vortex, when your head begins to turn
These are global motion signals that your brain has got to learn

[Chorus]
MST reads the optic flow
Expansion, contraction, rotation show
Where you're heading, how you're moving through space
Motion patterns guide your path and stabilize your gaze
MST, medial superior T
Downstream processing, setting your body free

[Bridge]
Vestibular whispers secrets from your inner ear canal
MST integrates the message, visual-vestibular
Self-motion computation, heading estimation too
Large-field motion detectors working hard for me and you

[Verse 3]
Not just single dots or edges like the cells we've seen before
MST wants bigger pictures, motion spread across the floor
Locomotion navigation, keeping balance when you move
Ancient circuits in your cortex help you find your forward groove

[Verse 4]
When the pilot banks the aircraft or the sailor rides the swell
MST is calculating every motion, working well
Complex scenes with multiple objects moving all around
Your MST sorts signal from the noise without a sound
Focus of expansion tells you where your path will lead
This cortical area gives you everything you need

[Chorus]
MST reads the optic flow
Expansion, contraction, rotation show
Where you're heading, how you're moving through space
Motion patterns guide your path and stabilize your gaze
MST, medial superior T
Downstream processing, setting your body free

[Outro]
From MT to MST, the processing chain unfolds
Optic flow and heading signals, stories that your brain has told

← MT / V5 - the motion area | Posterior parietal cortex (PPC) →