An Eccentricity Gradient Reversal across High-Level Visual Cortex.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Visual Perception
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• The human visual cortex has specialized regions for recognizing important stimuli like faces and places.
• The eccentricity theory explains visual cortex organization based on retinal stimulus viewing (central vs. peripheral).
• It remains unclear if the eccentricity theory applies to all category-selective visual regions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the functional organization of a limb-selective visual cortex region.
• To test whether this region adheres to the established eccentricity theory.
• To explore potential new principles of visual cortex organization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral measurements.
• Examined 27 participants (17 female) to assess visual processing.
• Focused on a limb-selective region adjacent to face-selective areas.

Main Results:

• Discovered that a limb-selective region exhibits tuning for the visual periphery.
• Identified this peripheral tuning in an area previously thought to be centrally biased.
• Observed evidence for two distinct eccentricity gradients across high-level visual cortex, indicating an eccentricity reversal.

Conclusions:

• The limb-selective region's spatial computations align with visual experience.
• Viewing experience interacts with innate neural wiring to shape cortical specialization.
• Proposes a unifying principle for visual cortex organization, expanding the eccentricity theory.