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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Published on: November 2, 2012

Adaptation to objects in the lateral occipital complex (LOC): shape or semantics?

Jiye G Kim¹, Irving Biederman, Mark D Lescroart

¹University of Southern California, Department of Psychology, 3641 Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. jiyekim@usc.edu

Vision Research

|July 7, 2009

Summary

The lateral occipital complex (LOC) responds to object shape, not basic-level semantics. This finding clarifies how the brain processes visual information, distinguishing between object form and meaning.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Visual Perception

Background:

The lateral occipital complex (LOC) is crucial for object recognition.
Adaptation paradigms in fMRI studies help investigate neural selectivity.
Distinguishing between shape and semantic information processing in the brain is an ongoing challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if the LOC's response to object changes is driven by alterations in shape or basic-level semantics.
To elucidate the role of the LOC in visual processing by dissociating shape and semantic cues.

Main Methods:

An fMRI-adaptation experiment was conducted.
Subjects viewed sequences of two objects, judging shape identity.
Stimuli varied in shape and basic-level class, with physical similarities equated.

Main Results:

BOLD responses in the LOC were equivalent for same- and different-shaped stimuli from different basic-level classes.
These responses were higher than for identical stimuli.
LOC responses did not differ significantly based on basic-level semantic changes.

Conclusions:

The LOC is primarily sensitive to object shape, not basic-level semantics.
This suggests shape information is a more dominant factor in LOC processing for object recognition.
Findings contribute to understanding the neural basis of visual object perception.