title: Exploring the role of space-defining objects in constructing and maintaining imagined scenes.
abstract: It has recently been observed that certain objects, when viewed or imagined in isolation, evoke a strong sense of three-dimensional local space surrounding them (space-defining (SD) objects), while others do not (space-ambiguous (SA) objects), and this is associated with engagement of the parahippocampal cortex (PHC). But activation of the PHC is classically associated with scene stimuli. The comparable neural response within PHC to both full scenes and single SD objects, led us to hypothesise that SD objects might play a more critical role in the construction and maintenance of scene representations than SA objects. To test this we used scene construction and deconstruction paradigms, where participants gradually built and maintained scenes using SD, SA and background (wall, floors) items. By examining the order in which each item was added (and later removed) to (and from) a scene, we could estimate the significance of each item type. In two different experiments, participants chose SD over SA objects and background items as the first and most critical item in their constructed scenes and, more generally, selected SD objects earlier than SA objects across the scene construction process. When deconstructing scenes, participants retained significantly more SD objects than SA objects, and the last remaining object across all scenes was highly likely to be an SD object. SD objects therefore enjoy a privileged role in scene construction and maintenance, and appear to be an essential building block of scenes.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. s.mullally@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sinéad L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Mullally
authors.forename: Eleanor A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Maguire
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
references.citation: Neuroreport. 2012 May 30;23(8):503-7
references.pmid: 22473293
references.citation: Science. 1990 Feb 9;247(4943):721-3
references.pmid: 2300824
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2007 Jul;11(7):299-306
references.pmid: 17548229
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2004 Jun;7(6):673-7
references.pmid: 15146191
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Jun 7;108(23):9661-6
references.pmid: 21593417
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Mar;21(3):489-510
references.pmid: 18510452
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Aug 5;29(31):9771-7
references.pmid: 19657030
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 1996 Nov-Dec;6(6):823-9
references.pmid: 8922339
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2008 Oct;12(10):388-96
references.pmid: 18760955
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2011 Aug 9;21(15):R589-91
references.pmid: 21820624
references.citation: Neuron. 1999 May;23(1):115-25
references.pmid: 10402198
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 May 18;31(20):7322-33
references.pmid: 21593316
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Aug 20;28(34):8539-44
references.pmid: 18716212
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Learn. 1976 Jan;2(1):38-48
references.pmid: 1249532
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Aug 26;29(34):10573-81
references.pmid: 19710310
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 Apr 6;31(14):5253-61
references.pmid: 21471360
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 1999;50:243-71
references.pmid: 10074679
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2000 Nov;12(6):1013-23
references.pmid: 11177421
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 May 18;31(20):7441-9
references.pmid: 21593327
references.citation: Nature. 1996 May 30;381(6581):425-8
references.pmid: 8632799
references.citation: Nature. 1975 Feb 6;253(5491):437-8
references.pmid: 1110787
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2012 Oct;13(10):713-26
references.pmid: 22992647
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 Jan 26;31(4):1333-40
references.pmid: 21273418
references.citation: Science. 2008 Dec 19;322(5909):1865-8
references.pmid: 19095945
references.citation: Nature. 1998 Apr 9;392(6676):598-601
references.pmid: 9560155
references.citation: Biol Cybern. 2000 Sep;83(3):301-12
references.pmid: 11007303
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008 Mar;1124:39-60
references.pmid: 18400923
references.citation: Hippocampus. 2000;10(4):369-79
references.pmid: 10985276
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 May 12;364(1521):1263-71
references.pmid: 19528007
references.citation: Cogn Psychol. 1997 Oct;34(1):72-107
references.pmid: 9325010
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1989 Mar;15(2):179-87
references.pmid: 2522508
references.citation: Neuron. 2012 Jun 21;74(6):1114-24
references.pmid: 22726840
references.citation: Cortex. 1978 Mar;14(1):129-33
references.pmid: 16295118
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2010 Apr;48(5):1501-9
references.pmid: 20132831
references.citation: Neuron. 2009 Sep 24;63(6):902-15
references.pmid: 19778517
references.citation: Science. 1972 Jul 7;177(4043):77-80
references.pmid: 5041781
references.citation: Cogn Psychol. 1982 Apr;14(2):143-77
references.pmid: 7083801
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004 Aug;5(8):617-29
references.pmid: 15263892
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2007 Dec 26;27(52):14365-74
references.pmid: 18160644
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2010 Sep 1;30(35):11688-95
references.pmid: 20810889
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2007 Feb;11(2):49-57
references.pmid: 17188554