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The Anticipatory and Task-Driven Nature of Visual Perception
Sebo Uithol1,2, Katherine L Bryant1,3, Ivan Toni1
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 HR, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|September 7, 2021
Summary
Categorization influences early visual processing, impacting even the primary visual cortex (V1 and V2). This suggests our expectations shape how we see, not just higher brain functions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Human perception involves categorizing visual input.
- It remains debated whether categorization is a high-level process or influences early visual areas.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if categorization processes affect early visual areas.
- To explore the neural basis of conceptual decision-making in visual perception.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used.
- Healthy participants performed a conceptual decision task involving animal images.
Main Results:
- Early visual cortices (V1, V2) showed information about current input, decision granularity, and expectations.
- Middle temporal gyrus, anterior temporal lobe, and inferior frontal gyrus were involved in categorization.
- These areas formed a network modulating perceptual processing.
Conclusions:
- Early visual processes are influenced by conceptual expectations and task demands.
- Categorization is not solely a higher-level or amodal process.
- Top-down influences from attention and control networks shape visual perception.
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