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Updated: Jul 29, 2025

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues
Published on: June 3, 2013
Semantic novelty modulates neural responses to visual change across the human brain
Maximilian Nentwich1, Marcin Leszczynski2,3,4, Brian E Russ3,5,6
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, New York, NY, USA. max.nentwich@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Our continuous visual experience in daily life is dominated by change. Previous research has focused on visual change due to stimulus motion, eye movements or unfolding events, but not their combined impact across the brain, or their interactions with semantic novelty. We investigate the neural responses to these sources of novelty during film viewing. We analyzed intracranial recordings in humans across 6328 electrodes from 23 individuals. Responses associated with saccades and film cuts were dominant across the entire brain. Film cuts at semantic event boundaries were particularly effective in the temporal and medial temporal lobe. Saccades to visual targets with high visual novelty were also associated with strong neural responses. Specific locations in higher-order association areas showed selectivity to either high or low-novelty saccades. We conclude that neural activity associated with film cuts and eye movements is widespread across the brain and is modulated by semantic novelty.
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