title: The occipital place area represents the local elements of scenes.
abstract: Neuroimaging studies have identified three scene-selective regions in human cortex: parahippocampal place area (PPA), retrosplenial complex (RSC), and occipital place area (OPA). However, precisely what scene information each region represents is not clear, especially for the least studied, more posterior OPA. Here we hypothesized that OPA represents local elements of scenes within two independent, yet complementary scene descriptors: spatial boundary (i.e., the layout of external surfaces) and scene content (e.g., internal objects). If OPA processes the local elements of spatial boundary information, then it should respond to these local elements (e.g., walls) themselves, regardless of their spatial arrangement. Indeed, we found that OPA, but not PPA or RSC, responded similarly to images of intact rooms and these same rooms in which the surfaces were fractured and rearranged, disrupting the spatial boundary. Next, if OPA represents the local elements of scene content information, then it should respond more when more such local elements (e.g., furniture) are present. Indeed, we found that OPA, but not PPA or RSC, responded more to multiple than single pieces of furniture. Taken together, these findings reveal that OPA analyzes local scene elements - both in spatial boundary and scene content representation - while PPA and RSC represent global scene properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Frederik S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Kamps
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Julian
authors.affiliation: Laboratories of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kubilius
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kanwisher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address: dilks@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Dilks
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: OPA; Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA); Retrosplenial Complex; Scene perception; Transverse Occipital Sulcus (TOS); fMRI