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Neural Responses to Central and Peripheral Objects in the Lateral Occipital Cortex
Bin Wang1, Jiayue Guo2, Tianyi Yan3
1College of Computer Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology Taiyuan, China.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|March 1, 2016
Summary
Neural responses in the lateral occipital complex (LOC) and surrounding visual areas decrease with increasing visual field eccentricity. Object processing strategies in the peripheral visual field may differ by category, particularly for houses.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Human object recognition is influenced by the retinal location of stimuli.
- The lateral occipital complex (LOC) is crucial for object processing, showing central visual field biases.
- Understanding LOC responses to peripheral objects is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate neural responses in the primary visual cortex (V1) and lateral visual cortex (including LOC, LO-1, LO-2) to objects at varying eccentricities.
- Determine how eccentricity and object category interact to affect neural processing.
- Explore potential differences in processing strategies for central versus peripheral objects.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a wide-view presentation system.
- Analysis of neural responses to four object categories (faces, houses, animals, cars) at multiple eccentricities (0-55°).
- Calculation of the ratio relative to V1 (RRV1) to assess normalized neural activity.
Main Results:
- Neural responses in V1, LOC, LO-1, and LO-2 decreased with increasing eccentricity.
- LOC and LO-2 showed positive responses across all eccentricities; LO-1 responded significantly only to central stimuli.
- RRV1s were higher for central stimuli and varied by category and eccentricity, suggesting differential processing strategies in the periphery.
Conclusions:
- Visual cortex regions, including LOC, exhibit reduced neural responses to objects at greater eccentricities.
- Object category and eccentricity significantly modulate neural processing within the lateral visual cortex.
- Differential processing strategies may be employed for various object categories in the peripheral visual field.
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