Ultimately, we aim to generalize and translate scientific knowledge to the real world, yet current understanding of human visual perception is based predominantly on studies of two-dimensional (2-D) images. Recent cognitivebehavioral evidence shows that real objects are processed differently to images, although the neural processes that underlie these differences are unknown. Because real objects (unlike images) afford actions, they may trigger stronger or more prolonged activation in neural populations for visuo-motor action planning. Here, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) when human observers viewed real-world three-dimensional (3-D) objects or closely matched 2-D images of the same items. Although responses to real objects and images were similar overall, there were critical differences. Compared to images, viewing real objects triggered stronger and more sustained eventrelated desynchronization (ERD) in the µ frequency band (8-13 Hz)-a neural signature of automatic motor preparation. Event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a transient, early occipital negativity for real objects (versus images), likely reflecting 3-D stereoscopic differences, and a late sustained parietal amplitude modulation consistent with an 'old-new' memory advantage for real objects over images. Together, these findings demonstrate that real-world objects trigger stronger and more sustained action-related brain responses than images do. These results highlight important similarities and differences between brain responses to images and richer, more ecologically relevant, real-world objects.

Here we present a collection of electroencephalographic (EEG) data recorded from 24 observers (14 females, 10 males, mean age: 25.4) while observing individually-presented stimuli comprised of 96 real-world objects, and 96 images of the same items printed in high-resolution. EEG was recorded from 128 scalp channels. Six additional external electrodes were used to record vertical and horizontal electrooculogram, as well as the signal from the left and right mastoid. EEG has been pre-processed, segmented in non-overlapping epochs, and independent component analysis (ICA) has been conducted to reject artifacts. Moreover, supplemental pre-processing steps have been completed to facilitate the analysis of event-related potentials (ERP). These data are linked to the article “Distinct visuo-motor brain dynamics for real-world objects versus planar images”. Alongside this data we provide the custom-written Matlab ® code that can be used to fully reproduce all analyses and figures presented in the linked research article.

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