Raw sensations are automatically integrated into percepts by neural networks in our brains. These networks grow extremely rapidly in newborn infants, particularly in parts of the brain that process visual and other sensory input. There is ample experimental evidence, however, that perceptual "rewiring" can be induced even in adults by manipulation of the sensory environment (

Our usage of the term perception should not be confused with the broader, figurative meaning attached to the word in popular language—e. g., "a common perception of wasteful federal spending." In this course the term is applied in a relatively narrow sense, referring to the automatic (although re-programmable to some degree) integration of a group of sensations by the brain of a human or other higher animal. As Rand points out, the sensations integrated need not be simultaneous, so that perception extends the awareness of a higher organism beyond the immediate moment.

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