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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Selectivity for low-level features of objects in the human ventral stream.

Timothy J Andrews¹, Alex Clarke, Philip Pell

¹Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York, UK. t.andrews@psych.york.ac.uk

|September 1, 2009

Summary

Category selectivity in the brain

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Visual Perception

Background:

The ventral visual stream contains specialized regions for processing object categories like faces and places.
Understanding the basis of this category selectivity is crucial for comprehending object recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether selectivity for complex object categories (faces, places) is explained by selectivity for their low-level visual features.
To determine the role of early visual processing in the emergence of category-specific representations.

Main Methods:

Comparing brain responses (fMRI adaptation) to intact and Fourier-scrambled images of faces and places.
Analyzing whole-brain activity patterns to identify regions selective for low-level features.

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Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Main Results:

Low-level feature differences explain a small part of category selectivity in areas like the fusiform face area (FFA) and parahippocampal place area (PPA).
Scrambled image selectivity was found in posterior ventral stream regions, with lateral areas favoring faces and medial areas favoring places.

Conclusions:

Category selectivity for faces and places is not solely based on high-level representations.
Differential processing of low-level features in early visual areas contributes significantly to category-specific visual processing.