Low-level properties of natural images predict topographic patterns of neural response in the ventral visual pathway

Neuroimaging research over the past 20 years has begun to reveal a picture of how the human visual system is organized. A key distinction that has arisen from these studies is the difference in the organization of low-level and high-level visual regions. Low-level regions contain topographic maps that are tightly linked to properties of the image. In contrast, high-level visual areas are thought to be arranged in modules that are tightly linked to categorical or semantic information in the image. To date, an unresolved question has been how the strong functional selectivity for object categories in high-level visual regions might arise from the image-based representations found in low-level visual regions. Here, we review recent evidence suggesting that patterns of response in high-level visual areas may be better explained by response to image properties that are characteristic of different object categories.