Occipital network for figure/ground organization

To study the cortical mechanism of Wgure/ ground categorization in the human brain, we employed fMRI and the temporal-asynchrony paradigm. This paradigm is able to eliminate any di Verential activation for local stimulus features, and thus to identify only global perceptual interactions. Strong segmentation of the image into diVerent spatial conWgurations was generated solely from temporal asynchronies between zones of homogeneous dynamic noise. The Wgure/ground conWguration was a single geometric Wgure enclosed in a larger surround region. In a control condition, the Wgure/ground organization was eliminated by segmenting the noise Weld into many identical temporal-asynchrony stripes. The manipulation of the type of perceptual organization triggered dramatic reorganization in the cortical activation pattern. The Wgure/ground conWguration generated suppression of the ground representation (limited to early retinotopic visual cortex, V1 and V2) and strong activation in the motion complex hMT+/ V5+; conversely, both responses were abolished when the Wgure/ground organization was eliminated. These results suggest that Wgure/ground processing is mediated by topdown suppression of the ground representation in the earliest visual areas V1/V2 through a signal arising in the motion complex. We propose a model of a recurrent cortical rchitecture incorporating suppressive feedback that operates in a topographic manner, forming a Wgure/ground categorization network distinct from that for “pure” scene segmentation and thus underlying the perceptual organization of dynamic scenes into cognitively relevant components

Estimating neural signal dynamics in the human brain

Although brain imaging methods are highly effective for localizing the effects of neural activation throughout the human brain in terms of the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response, there is currently no way to estimate the underlying neural signal dynamics in generating the BOLD response in each local activation region (except for processes slower than the BOLD time course). Knowledge of the neural signal is critical if spatial mapping is to progress to the analysis of dynamic information flow through the cortical networks as the brain performs its tasks. We introduce an analytic approach that provides a new level of conceptualization and specificity in the study of brain processing by non-invasive methods. This technique allows us to use brain imaging methods to determine the dynamics of local neural population responses to their native temporal resolution throughout the human brain, with relatively narrow confidence intervals on many response properties. The ability to characterize local neural dynamics in the human brain represents a significant enhancement of brain imaging capabilities, with potential applications ranging from general cognitive studies to assessment of neuropathologies

Analysis of Neural-BOLD Coupling Through Four Models of the Neural Metabolic Demand

The coupling of the neuronal energetics to the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response is still incompletely understood. To address this issue, we compared the fits of four plausible models of neurometabolic coupling dynamics to available data for simultaneous recordings of the local field potential and the local BOLD response recorded from monkey primary visual cortex over a wide range of stimulus durations. The four models of the metabolic demand driving the BOLD response were: direct coupling with the overall LFP; rectified coupling to the LFP; coupling with a slow adaptive component of the implied neural population response; and coupling with the non-adaptive intracellular input signal defined by the stimulus time course. Taking all stimulus durations into account, the results imply that the BOLD response is most closely coupled with metabolic demand derived from the intracellular input waveform, without significant influence from the adaptive transients and nonlinearities exhibited by the LFP waveform

Analysis of human vergence dynamics

Disparity vergence is commonly viewed as being controlled by at least two mechanisms, an open-loop vergence-specific burst mechanism analogous to the ballistic drive of saccades, and a closed-loop feedback mechanism controlled by the disparity error. We show that human vergence dynamics for disparity jumps of a large textured field have a typical time course consistent with predominant control by the open-loop vergence-specific burst mechanism, although various subgroups of the population show radically different vergence behaviors. Some individuals show markedly slow divergence responses, others slow convergence responses, others slow responses in both vergence directions, implying that the two vergence directions have separate control mechanisms. The faster time courses usually had time-symmetric velocity waveforms implying open-loop burst control, while the slow response usually had time-asymmetric velocity waveforms implying closed-loop feedback control. A further type of behavior in a distinct subpopulation is a compound anomalous divergence response consisting of an initial convergence movement followed by a large corrective divergence movement with time courses implying closed-loop feedback control. The closed-loop response for slow responses to disparity steps exhibited pronounced oscillations in the velocity trace, implying the involvement of a sampled-data system with a rate of about 3 samples/s. This analysis of the variety of human vergence responses thus contributes substantially to the understanding of the oculomotor control mechanisms underlying the generation of vergence movements

3D discomfort from vertical and torsional disparities in natural images

The two major aspects of camera misalignment that cause visual discomfort when viewing images on a 3D display are vertical and torsional disparities. While vertical disparities are uniform throughout the image, torsional rotations introduce a range of disparities that depend on the location in the image. The goal of this study was to determine the discomfort ranges for the kinds of natural image that people are likely to take with 3D cameras rather than the artificial line and dot stimuli typically used for laboratory studies. We therefore assessed visual discomfort on a five-point scale from ‘none’ to ‘severe’ for artificial misalignment disparities applied to a set of full-resolution images of indoor scenes. For viewing times of 2 s, discomfort ratings for vertical disparity in both 2D and 3D images rose rapidly toward the discomfort level of 4 (‘severe’) by about 60 arcmin of vertical disparity. Discomfort ratings for torsional disparity in the same image rose only gradually, reaching only the discomfort level of 3 (‘strong’) by about 50 deg of torsional disparity. These data were modeled with a second-order hyperbolic compression function incorporating a term for the basic discomfort of the 3D display in the absence of any misalignments through a Minkowski norm. These fits showed that, at a criterion discomfort level of 2 (‘moderate’), acceptable levels of vertical disparity were about 15 arcmin. The corresponding values for the torsional disparity were about 30 deg of relative orientation

Neuroplasticity and crossmodal connectivity in the normal, healthy brain

Objective: Neuroplasticity enables the brain to establish new crossmodal connections or reorganize old connections which are essential to perceiving a multisensorial world. The intent of this review is to identify and summarize the current developments in neuroplasticity and crossmodal connectivity, and deepen understanding of how crossmodal connectivity develops in the normal, healthy brain, highlighting novel perspectives about the principles that guide this connectivity. Method: To this end, a narrative review is carried out. The data documented in prior relevant studies in neuroscience, psychology, and other related fields available in a wide range of prominent electronic databases are critically assessed, synthesized, interpreted with qualitative rather than quantitative elements, and linked together to form new propositions and hypotheses about neuroplasticity and crossmodal connectivity. Results: Three major themes are identified. First, it appears that neuroplasticity operates by following eight fundamental principles and crossmodal integration operates by following three principles. Second, two different forms of crossmodal connectivity, namely, direct crossmodal connectivity and indirect crossmodal connectivity, are suggested to operate in both unisensory and multisensory perception. Third, three principles possibly guide the development of crossmodal connectivity into adulthood. These are labeled as the principle of innate crossmodality, the principle of evolution-driven “neuromodular” reorganization and the principle of multimodal experience. These principles are combined to develop a three-factor interaction model of crossmodal connectivity. Conclusions: The hypothesized principles and the proposed model together advance understanding of neuroplasticity, the nature of crossmodal connectivity, and how such connectivity develops in the normal, healthy brain

Do we enjoy what we sense and perceive? A dissociation between aesthetic appreciation and basic perception of environmental objects or events

This integrative review rearticulates the notion of human aesthetics by critically appraising the conventional definitions, offerring a new, more comprehensive definition, and identifying the fundamental components associated with it. It intends to advance holistic understanding of the notion by differentiating aesthetic perception from basic perceptual recognition, and by characterizing these concepts from the perspective of information processing in both visual and nonvisual modalities. To this end, we analyze the dissociative nature of information processing in the brain, introducing a novel local-global integrative model that differentiates aesthetic processing from basic perceptual processing. This model builds on the current state of the art in visual aesthetics as well as newer propositions about nonvisual aesthetics. This model comprises two analytic channels: aesthetics-only channel and perception-to-aesthetics channel. The aesthetics-only channel primarily involves restricted local processing for quality or richness (e.g., attractiveness, beauty/prettiness, elegance, sublimeness, catchiness, hedonic value) analysis, whereas the perception-to-aesthetics channel involves global/extended local processing for basic feature analysis, followed by restricted local processing for quality or richness analysis. We contend that aesthetic processing operates independently of basic perceptual processing, but not independently of cognitive processing. We further conjecture that there might be a common faculty, labeled as aesthetic cognition faculty, in the human brain for all sensory aesthetics albeit other parts of the brain can also be activated because of basic sensory processing prior to aesthetic processing, particularly during the operation of the second channel. This generalized model can account not only for simple and pure aesthetic experiences but for partial and complex aesthetic experiences as well