Functional Imaging of Visual Semantic Processing in the Human Brain

Rossion, Bruno; Bodart, J M; Thioux, Marc; Bol, Anne; Cosnard, Guy; Georges, Benoît; Michel, Christian; Volder, Anne De

doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(08)70539-2

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…More generally, the right hemispheric dominance for holistic face processing as observed in neuroimaging (Harris & Aguirre, 2008;Lobmaier, Klaver, Loenneker, Martin, & Mast, 2008;Rossion et al, 2000;Schiltz & Rossion, 2006) fits with at least two sources of evidence in the face processing literature. First, divided visual field studies supported a dominant role of the right hemisphere in holistic processing of individual faces (Hillger & Koenig, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Holistic perception of individual faces in the right middle fusiform gyrus as evidenced by the composite face illusion

Schiltz

2010

JOV

125

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The perception of a facial feature (e.g., the eyes) is influenced by the position and identity of other features (e.g., the mouth) supporting an integrated, or holistic, representation of individual faces in the human brain. Here we used an event-related adaptation paradigm in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to clarify the regions representing faces holistically across the whole brain. In each trial, observers performed the same/different task on top halves (aligned or misaligned) of two faces presented sequentially. For each face pair, the identity of top and bottom parts could be both identical, both different, or different only for the bottom half. The latter manipulation resulted in a composite face illusion, i.e., the erroneous perception of identical top parts as being different, only for aligned faces. Release from adaptation in this condition was found in two sub-areas of the right middle fusiform gyrus responding preferentially to faces, including the "fusiform face area" ("FFA"). There were no significant effects in homologous regions of the left hemisphere or in the inferior occipital cortex. Altogether, these observations indicate that face-sensitive populations of neurons in the right middle fusiform gyrus are optimally tuned to represent individual exemplars of faces holistically.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Holistic perception of individual faces in the right middle fusiform gyrus as evidenced by the composite face illusion

Schiltz

2010

JOV

125

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Visual tasks that entail structural coding and perceptual matching of stimuli have been found to activate bilateral parietal, occipital, posterior temporal, as well as premotor and prefrontal regions (Brambilla et al, 2004; Ecker, Brammer, & Williams, 2008; Fangmeier, Knauff, Ruff, & Sloutsky, 2006; Goel, 2007; Zacks, 2008). In comparison, picture-based semantic coding and conceptual reasoning processes appear to be associated with increased activation within left inferior frontal as well as inferior/ventral temporal and occipital cortices (Ricci et al, 1999; Rossion et al 2000; Simons, Koutstaal, Prince, Wagner, & Schacter, 2003; Vandenberghe, Price, Wise, Josephs, & Frackowiak, 1996). Interestingly, visuospatial tasks where verbal strategies are facilitative have been shown to activate language areas (Prabhakaran, Smith, Desmond, Glover, & Gabrieli, 1997); conversely, visuospatial activation has been found in verbal tasks involving visual/spatial relations (Goel, Gold, Kapur, & Houle, 1998; Knauff, Fangmeier, Ruff, & Johnson-Laird, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Neuroimaging of the functional and structural networks underlying visuospatial vs. linguistic reasoning in high-functioning autism

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High-functioning individuals with autism have been found to favor visuospatial processing in the face of typically poor language abilities. We aimed to examine the neurobiological basis of this difference using functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. We compared 12 children with high functioning autism (HFA) to 12 age-and IQ-matched typically developing controls (CTRL) on a pictorial reasoning paradigm under three conditions: V, requiring visuospatial processing, S, requiring language (i.e. semantic) processing, and V+S, a hybrid condition in which language use could facilitate visuospatial transformations. Activated areas in the brain were chosen as endpoints for probabilistic diffusion tractography to examine tract integrity (FA) within the structural network underlying the activation patterns. The two groups showed similar networks, with linguistic processing activating inferior frontal, superior and middle temporal, ventral visual, and temporo-parietal areas, whereas visuospatial processing activated occipital and inferior parietal cortices. However, HFA appeared to activate occipito-parietal and ventral temporal areas, whereas CTRL relied more on frontal and temporal language regions. The increased reliance on visuospatial abilities in HFA was supported by intact connections between the inferior parietal and the ventral temporal ROIs. In contrast, the inferior frontal region showed reduced connectivity to ventral temporal and middle temporal areas in this group, reflecting impaired activation of frontal language areas in autism. The HFA group's engagement of posterior brain regions along with its weak connections to frontal language areas suggest support for a reliance on visual mediation in autism, even in tasks of higher cognition.

show abstract

“…An interesting question for future research is whether the leftward bias generalises to the judgment of the attractiveness of other types of images such as representational pictures. Research suggests that the LH is more specialised for interpreting and assigning meaning to information (Beaumont, 1985;Gazzaniga, 1998;Marinsek, Turner, Gazzaniga, & Miller, 2014;Zaidel & Edelstyn, 2009) with occipito-temporal regions of the LH processing visual information semantically (Rossion et al, 2000). This may make the LH more suitable for appreciating and evaluating the attractiveness of representational pictures (see also Zaidel & Kasher, 1989), whereas the RH's greater involvement in perceptual and visuo-spatial processing may make it more specialised for the perceptual appraisal of a pattern's elements and how they are configured to form a whole.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A leftward perceptual asymmetry when judging the attractiveness of visual patterns

Rodway

Schepman

Crossley

et al. 2018

Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Perceptual judgements concerning the magnitude of a stimulus feature are typically influenced more by the left side of the stimulus than by the right side. This research examined whether the leftward bias also applies to judgements of the attractiveness of abstract visual patterns. Across four experiments participants chose between two versions of a stimulus which either had an attractive left side or an attractive right side. Experiments 1 and 2 presented artworks and experiments 3 and 4 presented wallpaper designs. In each experiment participants showed a significant bias to choose the stimulus with an attractive left side more than the stimulus with an attractive right side. The leftward bias emerged at age 10/11, was not caused by a systematic asymmetry in the perception of colourfulness or complexity, and was stronger when the difference in attractiveness between the left and right sides was larger. The results are relevant to the aesthetics of product and packaging design and show that leftward biases extend to the perceptual judgement of everyday items. Possible causes of the leftward bias for attractiveness judgements are discussed and it is suggested that the size of the bias may not be a measure of the degree of hemispheric specialization.

show abstract

Functional Imaging of Visual Semantic Processing in the Human Brain

Cited by 10 publications

References 53 publications

Holistic perception of individual faces in the right middle fusiform gyrus as evidenced by the composite face illusion

Holistic perception of individual faces in the right middle fusiform gyrus as evidenced by the composite face illusion

Neuroimaging of the functional and structural networks underlying visuospatial vs. linguistic reasoning in high-functioning autism

A leftward perceptual asymmetry when judging the attractiveness of visual patterns

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About