title: Decoding the time-course of object recognition in the human brain: From visual features to categorical decisions.
abstract: Visual object recognition is a complex, dynamic process. Multivariate pattern analysis methods, such as decoding, have begun to reveal how the brain processes complex visual information. Recently, temporal decoding methods for EEG and MEG have offered the potential to evaluate the temporal dynamics of object recognition. Here we review the contribution of M/EEG time-series decoding methods to understanding visual object recognition in the human brain. Consistent with the current understanding of the visual processing hierarchy, low-level visual features dominate decodable object representations early in the time-course, with more abstract representations related to object category emerging later. A key finding is that the time-course of object processing is highly dynamic and rapidly evolving, with limited temporal generalisation of decodable information. Several studies have examined the emergence of object category structure, and we consider to what degree category decoding can be explained by sensitivity to low-level visual features. Finally, we evaluate recent work attempting to link human behaviour to the neural time-course of object processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders and Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, Australia. Electronic address: erika.contini@students.mq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Erika W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Contini
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders and Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, Australia.
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Wardle
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders and Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University, Australia; School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Carlson
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: EEG; MEG; MVPA; Object categorisation; Object recognition; Time-series decoding