scholarly journals Combined neural tuning in human ventral temporal cortex resolves the perceptual ambiguity of morphed 2-D images

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Rosenke ◽  
Nicolas Davidenko ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector ◽  
Kevin S. Weiner
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Behavioral Model ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Estimated Parameters ◽  
Adjacent Face ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTWe have an amazing ability to categorize objects in the world around us. Nevertheless, how cortical regions in human ventral temporal cortex (VTC), which is critical for categorization, support this behavioral ability, is largely unknown. Here, we examined the relationship between neural responses and behavioral performance during the categorization of morphed silhouettes of faces and hands, which are animate categories processed in cortically adjacent regions in VTC. Our results reveal that the combination of neural responses from VTC face- and body-selective regions more accurately explains behavioral categorization than neural responses from either region alone. Furthermore, we built a model that predicts a person’s behavioral performance using estimated parameters of brain-behavioral relationships from a different group of people. We further show that this brain-behavioral model generalizes to adjacent face- and body-selective regions in lateral occipito-temporal cortex. Thus, while face- and body-selective regions are located within functionally-distinct domain-specific networks, cortically adjacent regions from both networks likely integrate neural responses to resolve competing and perceptually ambiguous information from both categories.

scholarly journals Combined Neural Tuning in Human Ventral Temporal Cortex Resolves the Perceptual Ambiguity of Morphed 2D Images

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 4882-4898
Author(s):  
Mona Rosenke ◽  
Nicolas Davidenko ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector ◽  
Kevin S Weiner
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Estimated Parameters ◽  
Adjacent Face ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract We have an amazing ability to categorize objects in the world around us. Nevertheless, how cortical regions in human ventral temporal cortex (VTC), which is critical for categorization, support this behavioral ability, is largely unknown. Here, we examined the relationship between neural responses and behavioral performance during the categorization of morphed silhouettes of faces and hands, which are animate categories processed in cortically adjacent regions in VTC. Our results reveal that the combination of neural responses from VTC face- and body-selective regions more accurately explains behavioral categorization than neural responses from either region alone. Furthermore, we built a model that predicts a person’s behavioral performance using estimated parameters of brain–behavior relationships from a different group of people. Moreover, we show that this brain–behavior model generalizes to adjacent face- and body-selective regions in lateral occipitotemporal cortex. Thus, while face- and body-selective regions are located within functionally distinct domain-specific networks, cortically adjacent regions from both networks likely integrate neural responses to resolve competing and perceptually ambiguous information from both categories.

scholarly journals The Human Intraparietal Sulcus Modulates Task-Evoked Functional Connectivity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 875-887
Author(s):  
Kai Hwang ◽  
James M Shine ◽  
Dillan Cellier ◽  
Mark D’Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Intraparietal Sulcus ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Adaptive Communication ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Functional Connectivity Strength ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cortical Regions

Abstract Past studies have demonstrated that flexible interactions between brain regions support a wide range of goal-directed behaviors. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie adaptive communication between brain regions are not well understood. In this study, we combined theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the sources of top-down biasing signals that influence task-evoked functional connectivity. Subjects viewed sequences of images of faces and buildings and were required to detect repetitions (2-back vs. 1-back) of the attended stimuli category (faces or buildings). We found that functional connectivity between ventral temporal cortex and the primary visual cortex (VC) increased during processing of task-relevant stimuli, especially during higher memory loads. Furthermore, the strength of functional connectivity was greater for correct trials. Increases in task-evoked functional connectivity strength were correlated with increases in activity in multiple frontal, parietal, and subcortical (caudate and thalamus) regions. Finally, we found that TMS to superior intraparietal sulcus (IPS), but not to primary somatosensory cortex, decreased task-specific modulation in connectivity patterns between the primary VC and the parahippocampal place area. These findings demonstrate that the human IPS is a source of top-down biasing signals that modulate task-evoked functional connectivity among task-relevant cortical regions.

scholarly journals Diverse Temporal Dynamics of Repetition Suppression Revealed by Intracranial Recordings in the Human Ventral Temporal Cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 5988-6003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinitha Rangarajan ◽  
Corentin Jacques ◽  
Robert T Knight ◽  
Kevin S Weiner ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Intracranial Electrodes

Abstract Repeated stimulus presentations commonly produce decreased neural responses—a phenomenon known as repetition suppression (RS) or adaptation—in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) of humans and nonhuman primates. However, the temporal features of RS in human VTC are not well understood. To fill this gap in knowledge, we utilized the precise spatial localization and high temporal resolution of electrocorticography (ECoG) from nine human subjects implanted with intracranial electrodes in the VTC. The subjects viewed nonrepeated and repeated images of faces with long-lagged intervals and many intervening stimuli between repeats. We report three main findings: 1) robust RS occurs in VTC for activity in high-frequency broadband (HFB), but not lower-frequency bands; 2) RS of the HFB signal is associated with lower peak magnitude (PM), lower total responses, and earlier peak responses; and 3) RS effects occur early within initial stages of stimulus processing and persist for the entire stimulus duration. We discuss these findings in the context of early and late components of visual perception, as well as theoretical models of repetition suppression.

Volumetric abnormalities associated with cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 541-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Christian Wolf ◽  
Annett Höse ◽  
Karel Frasch ◽  
Henrik Walter ◽  
Nenad Vasic
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Spatial Span ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWhile functional neuroimaging studies on attention and executive function in schizophrenia have reported several functionally aberrant cortical regions, less is known about the relationship of cognitive impairment and regional volume alterations. In order to investigate the relationship between cognitive impairment and structural alterations, we studied healthy control subjects and partially remitted, medicated inpatients with DSM-IV schizophrenia using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and a standardised neuropsychological test battery. Schizophrenic patients showed reduced grey matter (GM) density in the bilateral temporal cortex, the left inferior parietal lobule, the cingulate gyrus and the left middle frontal gyrus. Reduced GM volume was additionally found in the left hippocampal gyrus and the right superior frontal cortex. Reduced white matter density was found in the posterior corpus callosum. Structure-cognition regression analyses revealed that decreased GM density of the left inferior parietal and the right middle temporal cortex was associated with worse performance during divided attention. Worse performance during the spatial span was associated with volumetric abnormalities of the hippocampal gyrus. These results indicate that regional abnormalities in brain structure may offer an account for some impaired cognitive domains in patients with schizophrenia, while other cognitive domains may remain relatively less affected by volumetric alterations.

scholarly journals Diverse temporal dynamics of repetition suppression revealed by intracranial recordings in human ventral temporal cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinitha Rangarajan ◽  
Corentin Jacques ◽  
Robert T. Knight ◽  
Kevin S. Weiner ◽  
Kalanit Grill-Spector
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Intracranial Electrodes

AbstractRepeated stimulus presentations commonly produce decreased neural responses - a phenomenon known as repetition suppression (RS) or adaptation – in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) in humans and nonhuman primates. However, the temporal features of RS in human VTC are not well understood. To fill this gap in knowledge, we utilized the precise spatial localization and high temporal resolution of electrocorticography (ECoG) from 9 human subjects implanted with intracranial electrodes in VTC. Subjects viewed non-repeated and repeated images of faces with long-lagged intervals and many intervening stimuli between repeats. We report three main findings: (i) robust RS occurs in VTC for activity in high-frequency broadband (HFB), but not lower frequency bands, (ii) RS of the HFB signal is associated with lower peak magnitude, lower total responses, and earlier peak responses, and (iii) RS effects occur early within initial stages of stimulus processing and persist for the entire stimulus duration. We discuss these findings in the context of early and late components of visual perception, as well as theoretical models of repetition suppression.

scholarly journals Domain-Specific Diaschisis: Lesions to Parietal Action Areas Modulate Neural Responses to Tools in the Ventral Stream

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 3168-3181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank E Garcea ◽  
Jorge Almeida ◽  
Maxwell H Sims ◽  
Andrew Nunno ◽  
Steven P Meyers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Dorsal Stream ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Ventral Stream ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
High Level

Abstract Neural responses to small manipulable objects (“tools”) in high-level visual areas in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) provide an opportunity to test how anatomically remote regions modulate ventral stream processing in a domain-specific manner. Prior patient studies indicate that grasp-relevant information can be computed about objects by dorsal stream structures independently of processing in VTC. Prior functional neuroimaging studies indicate privileged functional connectivity between regions of VTC exhibiting tool preferences and regions of parietal cortex supporting object-directed action. Here we test whether lesions to parietal cortex modulate tool preferences within ventral and lateral temporal cortex. We found that lesions to the left anterior intraparietal sulcus, a region that supports hand-shaping during object grasping and manipulation, modulate tool preferences in left VTC and in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus. Control analyses demonstrated that neural responses to “place” stimuli in left VTC were unaffected by lesions to parietal cortex, indicating domain-specific consequences for ventral stream neural responses in the setting of parietal lesions. These findings provide causal evidence that neural specificity for “tools” in ventral and lateral temporal lobe areas may arise, in part, from online inputs to VTC from parietal areas that receive inputs via the dorsal visual pathway.

scholarly journals Word selectivity in high-level visual cortex and reading skill

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily C. Kubota ◽  
Sung Jun Joo ◽  
Elizabeth Huber ◽  
Jason D. Yeatman
Keyword(s):  
Struggling Readers ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Visual Word Form Area ◽  
Skilled Reading ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractWord-selective neural responses in human ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC) emerge as children learn to read, creating a visual word form area (VWFA) in the literate brain. It has been suggested that the VWFA arises through competition between pre-existing selectivity for other stimulus categories, changing the topography of VOTC to support rapid word recognition. Here, we hypothesized that competition between words and objects would be resolved as children acquire reading skill. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the relationship between responses to words and objects in VOTC in two ways. First, we defined the VWFA using a words > objects contrast and found that only skilled readers had a region that responded more to words than objects. Second, we defined the VWFA using a words > faces contrast and examined selectivity for words over objects in this region. We found that word selectivity strongly correlated with reading skill, suggesting reading skill-dependent tuning for words. Furthermore, we found that low word selectivity in struggling readers was not due to a lack of response to words, but to a high response to objects. Our results suggest that the fine-tuning of word-selective responses in VOTC is a critical component of skilled reading.

scholarly journals Mapping human temporal and parietal neuronal population activity and functional coupling during mathematical cognition

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (46) ◽  
pp. E7277-E7286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy L. Daitch ◽  
Brett L. Foster ◽  
Jessica Schrouff ◽  
Vinitha Rangarajan ◽  
Itır Kaşikçi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Arithmetic Functions ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Numerical Representations

Brain areas within the lateral parietal cortex (LPC) and ventral temporal cortex (VTC) have been shown to code for abstract quantity representations and for symbolic numerical representations, respectively. To explore the fast dynamics of activity within each region and the interaction between them, we used electrocorticography recordings from 16 neurosurgical subjects implanted with grids of electrodes over these two regions and tracked the activity within and between the regions as subjects performed three different numerical tasks. Although our results reconfirm the presence of math-selective hubs within the VTC and LPC, we report here a remarkable heterogeneity of neural responses within each region at both millimeter and millisecond scales. Moreover, we show that the heterogeneity of response profiles within each hub mirrors the distinct patterns of functional coupling between them. Our results support the existence of multiple bidirectional functional loops operating between discrete populations of neurons within the VTC and LPC during the visual processing of numerals and the performance of arithmetic functions. These findings reveal information about the dynamics of numerical processing in the brain and also provide insight into the fine-grained functional architecture and connectivity within the human brain.

scholarly journals Face-Selective Responses Present in Multiple Regions of the Human Infant Brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Kosakowski ◽  
Michael A. Cohen ◽  
Lyneé Herrara ◽  
Isabel Nichoson ◽  
Nancy Kanwisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Human Infant ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Multiple Regions ◽  
Infant Brain ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
Cortical Regions

AbstractFaces are a rich source of social information. How does the infant brain develop the ability to recognize faces and identify potential social partners? We collected functional magnetic neuroimaging (fMRI) data from 49 awake human infants (aged 2.5-9.7 months) while they watched movies of faces, bodies, objects, and scenes. Face-selective responses were observed not only in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) but also in superior temporal sulcus (STS), and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Face responses were also observed (but not fully selective) in the amygdala and thalamus. We find no evidence that face-selective responses develop in visual perception regions (VTC) prior to higher order social perception (STS) or social evaluation (MPFC) regions. We suggest that face-selective responses may develop in parallel across multiple cortical regions. Infants’ brains could thus simultaneously process faces both as a privileged category of visual images, and as potential social partners.

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