Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026
09:49
Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
The large-scale organization of "visual" streams emerges without visual experience
Ella Striem-Amit1, Ornella Dakwar, Lior Reich
1Department of Medical Neurobiology, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91220, Israel.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|September 24, 2011
Summary
The brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Perception
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The functional architecture of sensory neural systems is shaped by experience.
- A fundamental division in visual processing exists between the ventral ('what') and dorsal ('where and how') streams.
- The role of visual experience in establishing this division is largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dependence of the ventral/dorsal visual stream division on visual experience.
- To determine if this organizational principle can develop in the absence of visual input.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan participants.
- Participants included 11 congenitally blind (CB) individuals and 9 sighted individuals.
- Tasks involved location versus form identification using a sensory substitution device for artificial vision with auditory input.
Main Results:
- The dorsal/ventral visual pathway division of labor was observed in adult CB individuals perceiving auditory visual information.
- This division of labor was evident during both location and form identification tasks.
- The results indicate that this large-scale organization can develop without prior visual experience.
Conclusions:
- The fundamental organization of the visual system into ventral and dorsal streams can develop independently of visual experience.
- This organization may be attributed to innate constraints and cross-modal plasticity.
- The brain appears to be organized into task-specific, sensory modality-independent processing streams.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Visual System
Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
01:12Visual Agnosia
Visual agnosia is a condition characterized by the inability to recognize visually presented objects despite having normal vision. For instance, a person with visual agnosia can describe the shape and color of an object but cannot identify or name it. This impairment does not affect their visual field, acuity, color vision, brightness discrimination, language, or memory. An example of this condition in a social setting is someone at a dinner party asking for "that silver thing with a round end"...
01:20Parallel Processing
The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
01:24Vision
Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
01:21Gestalt Principles of Perception
Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...
01:26Structuralism
Structuralism, an early psychological theory developed by Wilhelm Wundt and his student Edward Bradford Titchener, sought to dissect the human mind into its most fundamental components. Wundt's groundbreaking work in his laboratory set the stage for Titchener to define structuralism's goal as cataloging the "atoms" of the mind—sensations, images, and feelings—akin to how chemists identify elements of matter.
Titchener's approach to structuralism was unique. He employed introspection, a method...
Titchener's approach to structuralism was unique. He employed introspection, a method...