title: Conceptual size representation in ventral visual cortex.
abstract: Recent findings suggest that visual objects may be mapped along the ventral occipitotemporal cortex according to their real-world size (Konkle and Oliva, 2012). It has been argued that such mapping does not reflect an abstract, conceptual size representation, but rather the visual or functional properties associated with small versus big real-world objects. To determine whether a more abstract conceptual size representation may affect visual cortical activation we used meaningless geometrical shapes, devoid of semantic or functional associations, which were associated with specific size representations by virtue of extensive training. Following training, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while performing a conceptual size comparison task on the geometrical shapes. In addition, a size comparison task was conducted for numeral digits denoting small and big numbers. A region-of-interest analysis revealed larger blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses for conceptually 'big' than for conceptually 'small' shapes, as well as for big versus small numbers, within medial (parahippocampal place area, PPA) and lateral (occipital place area, OPA) place-selective regions. Processing of the 'big' visual shapes further elicited enhanced activation in early visual cortex, possibly reflecting top-down projections from PPA. By using arbitrary shapes and numbers we minimized visual, categorical, or functional influences on fMRI measurement, providing evidence for a possible neural mechanism underlying the representation of abstract conceptual size within the ventral visual stream.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology & Cognitive Science Studies, The Open University, Raanana, Israel; Department of Psychology and the Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: shaigaba@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabay
authors.affiliation: Anxiety Disorders Clinic and the Center for OCD and Related Disorders, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalanthroff
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Avishai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology & Cognitive Science Studies, The Open University, Raanana, Israel.
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gronau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Conceptual size; Numerical processing; Occipital place area; Parahippocampal place area; Size-preference