Conjunctive Coding of Complex Object Features.
Critical to perceiving an object is the ability to bind its constituent features into a cohesive representation, yet the manner by which the visual system integrates object features to yield a unified percept remains unknown. Here, we present a novel application of multivoxel pattern analysis of neuroimaging data that allows a direct investigation of whether neural representations integrate object features into a whole that is different from the sum of its parts. We found that patterns of activity throughout the ventral visual stream (VVS), extending anteriorly into the perirhinal cortex (PRC), discriminated between the same features combined into different objects. Despite this sensitivity to the unique conjunctions of features comprising objects, activity in regions of the VVS, again extending into the PRC, was invariant to the viewpoints from which the conjunctions were presented. These results suggest that the manner in which our visual system processes complex objects depends on the explicit coding of the conjunctions of features comprising them.
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaM5S 3G3.
Jonathan
J
Erez
Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 5C2.|The Brain and Mind Institute, London, ON, Canada N6A 5B7.
Rhodri
R
Cusack
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaV6T 1Z4.
William
W
Kendall
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G3.|Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada M6A 2E1.
Morgan D
MD
Barense
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D000071039:Perirhinal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
MVPA; feature integration; hierarchical object processing; perirhinal cortex; view-invariance