title: Motion-dependent representation of space in area MT+.
abstract: How is visual space represented in cortical area MT+? At a relatively coarse scale, the organization of MT+ is debated; retinotopic, spatiotopic, or mixed representations have all been proposed. However, none of these representations entirely explain the perceptual localization of objects at a fine spatial scale--a scale relevant for tasks like navigating or manipulating objects. For example, perceived positions of objects are strongly modulated by visual motion; stationary flashes appear shifted in the direction of nearby motion. Does spatial coding in MT+ reflect these shifts in perceived position? We performed an fMRI experiment employing this "flash-drag" effect and found that flashes presented near motion produced patterns of activity similar to physically shifted flashes in the absence of motion. This reveals a motion-dependent change in the neural representation of object position in human MT+, a process that could help compensate for perceptual and motor delays in localizing objects in dynamic scenes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. maus@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Gerrit W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Maus
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Whitney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009038:Motion; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology