Reconstructing representations of dynamic visual objects in early visual cortex

Chong, Edmund; Familiar, Ariana; Shim, Won Mok

doi:10.1073/pnas.1512144113

Cited by 53 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…In summary, we found activation in early visual cortex corresponding to a dynamically occluded object similar to what has recently been found with apparent motion (Chong, Familiar, and Shim 2015; Larsen, Madsen, Lund, and Bundesen 2006; Muckli et al 2005; Sterzer, Haynes, and Rees 2006). However, when the object instantly disappeared instead of becoming gradually occluded, there was no evidence of corresponding activation in the occluded quadrant.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…This stands in contrast to several other studies of representations along the apparent motion path that have found increased activity in early visual cortex (Goebel et al 1998; Larsen et al 2006; Maus et al 2010; Muckli et al Singer 2005; Seghier et al 2000; Sterzer, Haynes, and Rees 2006; Wibral et al 2008). However, a similar lack of activation was also observed in a recent study of representations along the apparent motion path (Chong, Familiar, and Shim 2015). The use of circle and star stimuli was intended to minimize the contribution of orientation-specific horizontal processing within and between early visual areas including V1 (Field, Hayes, and Hess, 1996; Frégnac et al 2010; Gilbert et al 1996; Seriès et al 2002; Seriès, Lorenceau and Frégnac 2003).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Feature-based grouping can also occur during multiple object tracking and is sometimes used automatically by the visual system to either facilitate or hurt tracking performance (Erlikhman, Keane, Mettler, Horowitz, and Kellman 2013; Keane, Mettler, Tsoi, and Kellman 2011). Although no studies to our knowledge have examined whether low-level object features may be represented during dynamic occlusion, studies of apparent motion in which there is also an invisible object in an unstimulated region of space have repeatedly identified a role of early visual cortex in the representation of objects or their properties along the apparent motion path (Chong, Familiar, and Shim 2015; Goebel, Khorram-Sefat, Muckli, Hacker, and Singer 1998; Kaneoke, Bundou, Koyama, Suzuki, and Kakigi 1997; Larsen, Madsen, Lund, and Bundesen 2006; Maus, Weigelt, Nijhawan, and Muckli 2010; Muckli, Kohler, Kriegeskorte and Singer 2005; Seghier, Dojat, Delon-Martin, Rubin, Warnking, Segebarth, and Bullier 2000; Sterzer, Haynes, and Rees 2006; Wibral, Bledowski, Kohler, Singer, and Muckli 2008). Activation of early visual cortex has likewise been observed for objects that are not physically present during visual imagery (Albers, Kok, Toni, Dijkerman, and de Lange 2013; Klein, Paradis, Poline, Kosslyn, and Bihan 2006; Slotnick, Thompson, and Kosslyn 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Decoding information about dynamically occluded objects in visual cortex

Erlikhman

Caplovitz

2017

NeuroImage

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During dynamic occlusion, an object passes behind an occluding surface and then later reappears. Even when completely occluded from view, such objects are experienced as continuing to exist or persist behind the occluder, even though they are no longer visible. The contents and neural basis of this persistent representation remain poorly understood. Questions remain as to whether there is information maintained about the object itself (i.e. its shape or identity) or, non-object-specific information such as its position or velocity as it is tracked behind an occluder as well as which areas of visual cortex represent such information. Recent studies have found that early visual cortex is activated by “invisible” objects during visual imagery and by unstimulated regions along the path of apparent motion, suggesting that some properties of dynamically occluded objects may also be neurally represented in early visual cortex. We applied functional magnetic resonance imaging in human subjects to examine the representation of information within visual cortex during dynamic occlusion. For gradually occluded, but not for instantly disappearing objects, there was an increase in activity in early visual cortex (V1, V2, and V3). This activity was spatially-specific, corresponding to the occluded location in the visual field. However, the activity did not encode enough information about object identity to discriminate between different kinds of occluded objects (circles vs. stars) using MVPA. In contrast, object identity could be decoded in spatially-specific subregions of higher-order, topographically organized areas such as ventral, lateral, and temporal occipital areas (VO, LO, and TO) as well as the functionally defined LOC and hMT+. These results suggest that early visual cortex may represent the dynamically occluded object’s position or motion path, while later visual areas represent object-specific information.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Decoding information about dynamically occluded objects in visual cortex

Erlikhman

Caplovitz

2017

NeuroImage

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“…Feed-forward representations in V1 are of a high spatial resolution, but feedback to V1 is less spatially precise [26] and contains higher-level (more abstract) representations of stimulus spaces [66]. This computation of sensory inputs with top-down influences depends on the instruction of the top-down signal; for example, feedback can reconstruct an absent feedforward stimulus [67,68], enhance an illusory feedforward input [69] or suppress a predictable stimulus [70]. We do not know yet how these two streams of representation are combined in V1, but assume that both are constrained by retinotopy.…”

Section: The Singularity Of Primary Visual Cortexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextual modulation of primary visual cortex by auditory signals

Petro

Paton

Muckli

2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Early visual cortex receives non-feedforward input from lateral and top-down connections (Muckli & Petro 2013 Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 23, 195–201. (doi:10.1016/j.conb.2013.01.02010.1016/j.conb.2013.01.020)), including long-range projections from auditory areas. Early visual cortex can code for high-level auditory information, with neural patterns representing natural sound stimulation (Vetter et al. 2014 Curr. Biol. 24, 1256–1262. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.02010.1016/j.cub.2014.04.020)). We discuss a number of questions arising from these findings. What is the adaptive function of bimodal representations in visual cortex? What type of information projects from auditory to visual cortex? What are the anatomical constraints of auditory information in V1, for example, periphery versus fovea, superficial versus deep cortical layers? Is there a putative neural mechanism we can infer from human neuroimaging data and recent theoretical accounts of cortex? We also present data showing we can read out high-level auditory information from the activation patterns of early visual cortex even when visual cortex receives simple visual stimulation, suggesting independent channels for visual and auditory signals in V1. We speculate which cellular mechanisms allow V1 to be contextually modulated by auditory input to facilitate perception, cognition and behaviour. Beyond cortical feedback that facilitates perception, we argue that there is also feedback serving counterfactual processing during imagery, dreaming and mind wandering, which is not relevant for immediate perception but for behaviour and cognition over a longer time frame.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Auditory and visual scene analysis’.

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“…However, when internal models are fed back to sensory cortex, we assume that they are translated into sensory predictions that would intuitively have simpler content. In PNAS, Chong et al (3) provide empirical evidence needed to drive this theory forward. Using brain reading, they show that the brain constructs new plausible predictions of expected sensory input, and that these predictions can be read out in sensory cortex.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The brain's predictive prowess revealed in primary visual cortex

Petro

Muckli

2016

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

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We humans carry around in our heads rich internal mental models that constitute our construction of the world, and the relation of that world to us. These models can be expressed at multiple levels of abstraction, including beliefs about sensory stimuli and the output of our motor programs, or higher-level beliefs about self. Advancing our understanding of the brain's internal processing states, however challenging, could lead to breakthroughs in understanding states such as dreaming, consciousness, and mental disorders (1). Computational theories propose that internal models are broadcast throughout the brain, including to sensory areas of the brain (2). Techniques to read out internal mental models will deliver insight into how our brains use beliefs or predictions to "construct" the environment. Internal models in higher brain areas are complex though, creating a paradox that they are difficult to constrain if we want to decipher the brain's coding of them. However, when internal models are fed back to sensory cortex, we assume that they are translated into sensory predictions that would intuitively have simpler content. In PNAS, Chong et al. (3) provide empirical evidence needed to drive this theory forward. Using brain reading, they show that the brain constructs new plausible predictions of expected sensory input, and that these predictions can be read out in sensory cortex.There are two information streams that coincide in V1: the high-precision retinal input that is processed with high spatial acuity and the broad, abstract, lessprecise strokes painted by cortical feedback. V1 is retinotopically organized and has small classical feedforward receptive fields. Conversely, feedback conveys information about larger portions of the visual field, giving rise to extraclassical or contextual receptive fields. By eliminating the feed-forward input to the classical receptive field, we can investigate internal signals carried by feedback, which originate from diffuse brain areas (4). There are many challenges that we need to understand, including what kind of features are signaled in feedback. In a novel variation of the apparent motion illusion, Chong et al. (3) used inducer stimuli that allowed them to show that the motion prediction fed back to V1 contained detailed texture information. The information that they were able to read out from V1 was created by the brain's prediction about an object's rotational movement as it moved through the visual field. But, in fact, this experience of rotation was never present in the sensory input to the brain-it was fabricated by the brain out of acquired world knowledge. A previous study used objects rotating in depth to show a similar construction of an unseen (but implied) object position, but only in higher areas of the visual hierarchy (5). A number of other studies have shown that internal processing is contextual, both in higher (6) and lower visual areas (7,8). The innovation of the data of Chong et al. (3) is in showing that internal processing is constructive and dy...

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Reconstructing representations of dynamic visual objects in early visual cortex

Cited by 53 publications

References 60 publications

Decoding information about dynamically occluded objects in visual cortex

Decoding information about dynamically occluded objects in visual cortex

Contextual modulation of primary visual cortex by auditory signals

The brain's predictive prowess revealed in primary visual cortex

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