title: Bodies are Represented as Wholes Rather Than Their Sum of Parts in the Occipital-Temporal Cortex.
abstract: Behavioral studies suggested that bodies are represented as wholes rather than in a part-based manner. However, neural selectivity for body stimuli is found for both whole bodies and body parts. It is therefore undetermined whether the neural representation of bodies is configural or part-based. We used functional MRI to test the role of first-order configuration on body representation in the human occipital-temporal cortex by comparing the response to a whole body versus the sum of its parts. Results show that body-selective areas, whether defined by selectivity to headless bodies or body parts, preferred whole bodies over their sum of parts and successfully decoded body configuration. This configural representation was specific to body stimuli and not found for faces. In contrast, general object areas showed no preference for wholes over parts and decoded the configuration of both bodies and faces. Finally, whereas effects of inversion on configural face representation were specific to face-selective mechanisms, effects of body inversion were not unique to body-selective mechanisms. We conclude that the neural representation of body parts is strengthened by their arrangement into an intact body, thereby demonstrating a central role of first-order configuration in the neural representation of bodies in their category-selective areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel.
authors.forename: Talia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brandman
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel.
authors.forename: Galit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yovel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: body perception; body selectivity; configural processing; extrastriate body area; functional magnetic resonance imaging