Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1985 Mar;360:247–259. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1985.sp015615

Localization of cortical activity associated with visual recognition in humans.

R Srebro
PMCID: PMC1193459  PMID: 3989715

Abstract

The Laplacian analysis described previously is used to localize cortical activity subserving visual object recognition in humans. In the first of two experiments, subjects are shown pictures of a human face corrupted by varying amounts of noise. After each picture has been presented for 34 ms against a large uniformly illuminated background, the subject is required to report whether or not he saw the face, by pressing a button. The Laplacian response associated with the report that the face is seen differs from that associated with the report that the face is not seen. The difference between these two Laplacian responses has a simple wave form with peak activity at approximately 206 ms after stimulus onset and approximately 196 ms before median reaction time for the button-press report. Its amplitude and polarity, which vary with centre-electrode location over the posterior scalp, are used to construct a map showing the location of cortical activity subserving recognition of the face. This cortical activity localizes to both temporal lobes with some degree of right hemispheric lateralization in right-handed subjects. In the second of the two experiments, subjects are shown the silhouette of a simple shape, such as a triangle, embedded in a large random dot field. Each silhouette is presented for 17 ms. The visibility of the shape is made to vary from trial to trial and the subject is required to report for each trial whether or not the shape is seen. The Laplacian response associated with the report that no shape is seen is very much smaller than that correctly identifying the shape. The difference between these two Laplacian responses has a simple wave form with peak activity at approximately 207 ms after stimulus onset. Its wave form is essentially the same as that associated with face recognition. Its amplitude and polarity, which vary with centre-electrode location over the posterior scalp, are used to construct a map showing the location of cortical activity subserving recognition of the simple shape. This cortical activity localizes to both temporal lobes with strong right hemispheric lateralization in right-handed subjects. The general topography of this activity is similar to that subserving face recognition. Although generally similar, there are measurable differences between the topographies of right temporal lobe activity associated with face recognition and that associated with simple shape recognition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Full text

PDF
247

Images in this article

258-1PLATE 1
on p.258-1
258-2PLATE 2
on p.258-2
258-3PLATE 3
on p.258-3
258-4PLATE 4
on p.258-4

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersen R. A., Mountcastle V. B. The influence of the angle of gaze upon the excitability of the light-sensitive neurons of the posterior parietal cortex. J Neurosci. 1983 Mar;3(3):532–548. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.03-03-00532.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bushnell M. C., Goldberg M. E., Robinson D. L. Behavioral enhancement of visual responses in monkey cerebral cortex. I. Modulation in posterior parietal cortex related to selective visual attention. J Neurophysiol. 1981 Oct;46(4):755–772. doi: 10.1152/jn.1981.46.4.755. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fuster J. M., Jervey J. P. Neuronal firing in the inferotemporal cortex of the monkey in a visual memory task. J Neurosci. 1982 Mar;2(3):361–375. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.02-03-00361.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gross C. G., Bender D. B., Gerstein G. L. Activity of inferior temporal neurons in behaving monkeys. Neuropsychologia. 1979;17(2):215–229. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(79)90012-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gross C. G., Cowey A., Manning F. J. Further analysis of visual discrimination deficits following foveal prestriate and inferotemporal lesions in rhesus monkeys. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1971 Jul;76(1):1–7. doi: 10.1037/h0031039. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hyvärinen J. Posterior parietal lobe of the primate brain. Physiol Rev. 1982 Jul;62(3):1060–1129. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1982.62.3.1060. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Macko K. A., Jarvis C. D., Kennedy C., Miyaoka M., Shinohara M., Sololoff L., Mishkin M. Mapping the primate visual system with [2-14C]deoxyglucose. Science. 1982 Oct 22;218(4570):394–397. doi: 10.1126/science.7123241. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Meadows J. C. The anatomical basis of prosopagnosia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1974 May;37(5):489–501. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.37.5.489. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mikami A., Kubota K. Inferotemporal neuron activities and color discrimination with delay. Brain Res. 1980 Jan 20;182(1):65–78. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(80)90830-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Motter B. C., Mountcastle V. B. The functional properties of the light-sensitive neurons of the posterior parietal cortex studied in waking monkeys: foveal sparing and opponent vector organization. J Neurosci. 1981 Jan;1(1):3–26. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.01-01-00003.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mountcastle V. B., Andersen R. A., Motter B. C. The influence of attentive fixation upon the excitability of the light-sensitive neurons of the posterior parietal cortex. J Neurosci. 1981 Nov;1(11):1218–1225. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.01-11-01218.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mountcastle V. B., Lynch J. C., Georgopoulos A., Sakata H., Acuna C. Posterior parietal association cortex of the monkey: command functions for operations within extrapersonal space. J Neurophysiol. 1975 Jul;38(4):871–908. doi: 10.1152/jn.1975.38.4.871. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Robinson D. L., Goldberg M. E., Stanton G. B. Parietal association cortex in the primate: sensory mechanisms and behavioral modulations. J Neurophysiol. 1978 Jul;41(4):910–932. doi: 10.1152/jn.1978.41.4.910. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Srebro R. Localization of visually evoked cortical activity in humans. J Physiol. 1985 Mar;360:233–246. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1985.sp015614. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES