Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Illusory contours and spatial neglect

P Vuilleumier1, T Landis

  • 1Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.

Neuroreport
|August 29, 1998
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Does inappropriate behavior hurt or stink? The interplay between neural representations of somatic experiences and moral decisions.

Science advances·2020
Same author

Impaired emotional biases in visual attention after bilateral amygdala lesion.

Neuropsychologia·2019
Same author

Emotional learning promotes perceptual predictions by remodeling stimulus representation in visual cortex.

Scientific reports·2019
Same author

Pain management decisions in emergency hospitals are predicted by brain activity during empathy and error monitoring.

British journal of anaesthesia·2019
Same author

No time for drifting: Comparing performance and applicability of signal detrending algorithms for real-time fMRI.

NeuroImage·2019
Same author

Reply to: "1.5 Dissociation" of somatoparaphrenia for the upper limb and neglect for the lower limb following a thalamic stroke presenting as flaccid hemiparesis: rehabilitation applications and neuroscience implications.

Experimental brain research·2019
Same journal

Electroacupuncture alleviates neuroinflammation and promotes recovery of neurological functions after intracerebral hemorrhage by modulating α7nAChR/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Neuroreport·2026
Same journal

Non-cell-autonomous regulation of Bhlhb5 expression in cortical projection neurons by GABAergic interneuron development and position.

Neuroreport·2026
Same journal

C-C motif chemokine ligand 3 mediates inflammatory response via NLRP3 inflammasome and neuron damage after traumatic brain injury.

Neuroreport·2026
Same journal

Methyltransferase-like 14 alleviates neuronal ferroptosis in Alzheimer's disease by regulating the peroxiredoxin 6/apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 signaling pathway.

Neuroreport·2026
Same journal

Hand mental rotation reaction time reflects motor imagery strategy and predicts changes in finger dexterity after motor imagery.

Neuroreport·2026
Same journal

Functional exploration of metabotropic glycine receptors in cultured rat hippocampal slices.

Neuroreport·2026
See all related articles

Illusory contour perception can occur without conscious attention. Visual grouping and filling-in mechanisms operate preattentively, even when specific features are not consciously detected.

Area of Science:

  • Visual perception
  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Neuropsychology

Background:

  • The origin of illusory contour perception is debated, with theories suggesting either higher-level cognitive processes requiring attention or early preattentive visual mechanisms.
  • Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for comprehending visual processing and its potential disruptions in neurological conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the perception of illusory contours relies on attention or occurs through preattentive visual processing.
  • To examine the role of grouping and filling-in mechanisms in the absence of explicit feature detection.

Main Methods:

  • Studied three patients with left spatial neglect, a condition affecting attention to the left visual field.
  • Employed a same/different judgment task to assess explicit detection of Kanizsa figure inducers.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Utilized a midpoint judgment task to evaluate implicit perception of illusory contours.

    • Main Results:

    • Patients with spatial neglect failed to detect the inducers of Kanizsa figures in the same/different task.
    • Despite the lack of explicit detection, patients demonstrated implicit perception of illusory figures in the midpoint task.
    • Performance on the midpoint task was consistent for figures with illusory or real contours, but differed for discontinuous figures lacking illusory filling-in.

    Conclusions:

    • Grouping and filling-in mechanisms involved in illusory contour perception can operate independently of explicit detection and attention.
    • Findings support the hypothesis that these visual mechanisms are primarily preattentive.
    • This challenges theories positing a mandatory role for attention in the formation of illusory contours.