Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Pattern-motion responses in human visual cortex.

Alexander C Huk1, David J Heeger

  • 1Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2130, USA. huk@u.washington.edu

Nature Neuroscience
|December 4, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Reassessing Choice Probability: What 59 Macaque Studies Tell Us About Decision-Related Activity in Visual Cortex.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Density is a precursor in the perception of visual numerosity: Evidence from adaptation.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·2026
Same author

Active gaze behavior organizes V1 activity in freely-moving marmosets.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Texture density discrimination is more precise than number discrimination.

Journal of vision·2026
Same author

Area MT carries acceleration information in a quickly and directly decodable representation.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Unconditional stability of a recurrent neural circuit implementing divisive normalization.

Advances in neural information processing systems·2025
Same journal

Connectomic evidence that ordered activity drives neuromuscular network formation.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Noninvasive decoding of typed sentences from human brain activity.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Striatal control of amygdalar acetylcholine release during salience-associated processing.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Mitochondrial stress response drives microglial senescence.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Conditioned accumbal dopamine transients forecast individual preference for drug versus natural rewards and compulsive behavior.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The mitochondrial unfolded protein response in human microglia disrupts neuronal-glial communication and promotes senescence.

Nature neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Researchers identified specific brain cells, called pattern-motion cells, that process object direction regardless of visual pattern. These cells in human visual area MT+ are crucial for perceiving coherent motion.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Physiological models suggest specialized neurons, 'pattern-motion cells,' process object direction irrespective of visual patterns.
  • Understanding these cells is key to deciphering visual motion perception mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify and characterize neuronal activity in the human brain selective for pattern motion.
  • To investigate the role of pattern-motion cells in the perception of coherent visual motion.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments were conducted on human participants.
  • A novel adaptation protocol using moving 'plaid' stimuli was employed to isolate pattern-motion responses.
  • Stimuli coherence was manipulated to assess its effect on neural responsivity.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Strong pattern-motion selectivity was identified in human visual area MT+.
  • Decreased perceptual coherence of plaid stimuli led to a corresponding reduction in pattern-motion responsivity.
  • These findings demonstrate a direct link between pattern-motion cell activity and the perception of coherent motion.

Conclusions:

  • Human visual area MT+ contains neurons specifically tuned to pattern motion.
  • The activity of pattern-motion cells in MT+ is closely associated with the subjective perception of coherent visual motion.
  • This study provides crucial evidence for the neural basis of pattern-motion perception.