Striate cortex extracts higher-order spatial correlations from visual textures.
Spatial correlations define the statistical structure of any visual image. Two-point correlations inform the visual system about the spatial frequency content of an image. Higher-order correlations can capture salient features such as object contours. We studied "isodipole" texture discrimination in V1 to determine if higher-order spatial correlations can be extracted by early stages of cortical processing. We made epicortical, local field potential, and single-cell recordings of responses elicited by isodipole texture interchange in anesthetized monkeys. Our studies demonstrate that single neurons in V1 can signal the presence of higher-order spatial correlations in visual textures. This places a computational mechanism, which may be essential for form vision at the earliest stage of cortical processing.
Purpura
K P
KP
Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY 10021.
Victor
J D
JD
Katz
E
E
D000818:Animals; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*