Cortical Analysis of Visual Context

Bär, Markus; Aminoff, Elissa

doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(03)00167-3

Cited by 563 publications

(632 citation statements)

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“…Also, while the one‐back localiser task was sufficient to identify significant RSC voxels in individual brains, particularly at lower voxel‐wise thresholds, it is not necessarily attuned to the precise function of this brain region in scene processing (i.e., spatial navigation), which could account for the reduced inter‐individual consistency found here. In addition, there are inconsistencies in the field when defining the RSC [Knight and Hayman, 2014; Vann et al, 2009], to the extent that some researchers have restricted analysis to anatomical boundaries [Auger and Maguire, 2013], whereas others use the more liberal, and functionally‐defined retrosplenial complex [Bar and Aminoff, 2003; Epstein et al, 2007]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidencing a place for the hippocampus within the core scene processing network

Hodgetts

Shine

Lawrence

et al. 2016

Human Brain Mapping

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Functional neuroimaging studies have identified several “core” brain regions that are preferentially activated by scene stimuli, namely posterior parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), retrosplenial cortex (RSC), and transverse occipital sulcus (TOS). The hippocampus (HC), too, is thought to play a key role in scene processing, although no study has yet investigated scene‐sensitivity in the HC relative to these other “core” regions. Here, we characterised the frequency and consistency of individual scene‐preferential responses within these regions by analysing a large dataset (n = 51) in which participants performed a one‐back working memory task for scenes, objects, and scrambled objects. An unbiased approach was adopted by applying independently‐defined anatomical ROIs to individual‐level functional data across different voxel‐wise thresholds and spatial filters. It was found that the majority of subjects had preferential scene clusters in PHG (max = 100% of participants), RSC (max = 76%), and TOS (max = 94%). A comparable number of individuals also possessed significant scene‐related clusters within their individually defined HC ROIs (max = 88%), evidencing a HC contribution to scene processing. While probabilistic overlap maps of individual clusters showed that overlap “peaks” were close to those identified in group‐level analyses (particularly for TOS and HC), inter‐individual consistency varied across regions and statistical thresholds. The inter‐regional and inter‐individual variability revealed by these analyses has implications for how scene‐sensitive cortex is localised and interrogated in functional neuroimaging studies, particularly in medial temporal lobe regions, such as the HC. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3779–3794, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidencing a place for the hippocampus within the core scene processing network

Hodgetts

Shine

Lawrence

et al. 2016

Human Brain Mapping

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“…Indeed, our behavioral results demonstrate that more detailed events were more likely to be successfully encoded. Activity in regions supporting retrieval of contextual and visuospatial information, such as the parahippocampal gyrus (45,46) and the precuneus (47), also exhibited an encoding effect and/or connectivity with the hippocampal seed regions. It is, however, a challenge to tease apart neural activity related to the retrieval of details from episodic memory and the integration of these details into a coherent imagined scenario.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A role for the hippocampus in encoding simulations of future events

Martin

Schacter

Corballis

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

135

132

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The role of the hippocampus in imagining the future has been of considerable interest. Preferential right hippocampal engagement is observed for imagined future events relative to remembered past events, and patients with hippocampal damage are impaired when imagining detailed future events. However, some patients with hippocampal damage are not impaired at imagining, suggesting that there are conditions in which the hippocampus may not be necessary for episodic simulation. Given the known hippocampal role in memory encoding, the hippocampal activity associated with imagining may reflect the encoding of simulations rather than event construction per se. The present functional (f)MRI study investigated this possibility. Participants imagined future events in response to person, place, and object cues. A postscan cued-recall test probing memory for detail sets classified future events as either successfully encoded or not. A contrast of successfully versus unsuccessfully encoded events revealed anterior and posterior right hippocampal clusters. When imagined events were successfully encoded, both anterior and posterior hippocampus showed common functional connectivity to a network including parahippocampal gyrus, medial parietal and cingulate cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex. However, when encoding was unsuccessful, only the anterior hippocampus, and not the posterior, exhibited this pattern of connectivity. These findings demonstrate that right hippocampal activity observed during future simulation may reflect the encoding of the simulations into memory. This function is not essential for constructing coherent scenarios and may explain why some patients with hippocampal damage are still able to imagine the future.

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“…The final sequence presentation order provided by optseq was divided into five sections of 140 consecutive trials, each lasting 2 s, for use in each of the functional runs. Structural images were acquired in a 3T Siemens Allegra system using a series of high-resolution 3-D T1-weighted images, and functional images were then collected using a T2*-weighted gradient echo-planar imaging sequence (TR = 2.00s, TE = 25 ms, flip angle = 90°, field of fMRI statistical analysis-Functional data were analyzed using the FS-FAST analysis tools (see elaborated description of methods in Bar, et al, 2001;Bar & Aminoff, 2003). Data from individual fMRI runs were first corrected for motion using the AFNI package (Cox, 1996) and spatially smoothed with a Gaussian full-width, half-maximum (FWHM) filter of 5 mm.…”

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confidence: 99%

Visual elements of subjective preference modulate amygdala activation

2007

Self Cite

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What are the basic visual cues that determine our preference towards mundane everyday objects? We previously showed that a highly potent cue is the nature of the object's contour: people generally like objects with a curved contour compared with objects that have pointed features and a sharp-angled contour. This bias is hypothesized here to stem from an implicit perception of potential threat conveyed by sharp elements. Using human neuroimaging to test this hypothesis, we report that the amygdala, a brain structure that is involved in fear processing and has been shown to exhibit activation level that is proportional to arousal in general, is significantly more active for everyday sharp objects (e.g., a sofa with sharp corners) compared with their curvedcontour counterparts. Therefore, our results indicate that a preference bias towards a visual object can be induced by low-level perceptual properties, independent of semantic meaning, via visual elements that on some level could be associated with threat. We further present behavioral results that provide initial support for the link between the sharpness of the contour and threat perception. Our brains might be organized to extract these basic contour elements rapidly for deriving an early warning signal in the presence of potential danger. Keywordsarousal; contour; fMRI; form; shape; threat We determine our preference towards people and objects in the environment frequently and rapidly (Ambady, Bernieri, & Richeson, 2000;Bar, Neta, & Linz, 2006;Willis & Todorov, 2006). These first-impression preferences must rely on perceptual features in the image, especially when they are derived quickly. What are these features? In addressing this question, we discovered that the nature of an object's contour provides a potent source of influence on preferences . Specifically, emotionally neutral objects comprised of primarily pointed features and sharp angles were liked significantly less than © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Correspondence should be addressed to: Moshe Bar Martinos Center at MGH, Harvard Medical School 149 Thirteenth St., Charlestown Massachusetts, 02129 Phone: (617) 726-7467 Fax: (617) 726-0504 bar@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. when the same objects were comprised of curved features (e.g., a watch with a sharp-angled contour compared with a watch with a curved contour). NIH Public AccessWhat is the origin of this bias for preferring objects with curved visual elements significantly more than objects with sharp-angled elements? We hypothesize that this preferen...

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Cortical Analysis of Visual Context

Cited by 563 publications

References 58 publications

Evidencing a place for the hippocampus within the core scene processing network

Evidencing a place for the hippocampus within the core scene processing network

A role for the hippocampus in encoding simulations of future events

Visual elements of subjective preference modulate amygdala activation

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