September 2005
Volume 5, Issue 8
Free
Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting Abstract  |   September 2005
Concentric and parallel textures differentially activate human visual cortex
Author Affiliations
  • Jane E. Aspell
    Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, UK
  • Oliver J. Braddick
    Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, UK
  • Janette Atkinson
    Department of Psychology, University College London, UK
  • John Wattam-Bell
    Department of Psychology, University College London, UK
  • Holly Bridge
    FMRIB Centre, Oxford University, John Radcliffe Hospital, UK
Journal of Vision September 2005, Vol.5, 189. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/5.8.189
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      Jane E. Aspell, Oliver J. Braddick, Janette Atkinson, John Wattam-Bell, Holly Bridge; Concentric and parallel textures differentially activate human visual cortex. Journal of Vision 2005;5(8):189. https://doi.org/10.1167/5.8.189.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Introduction

Mid level visual processes integrating local orientation information to detect global structure can be investigated using global form stimuli of varying complexity. Several lines of evidence suggest that the identification of concentric and parallel organisations have different underlying neural substrates. The current study compared brain activation by concentric and parallel arrays of line segments.

Methods

Four subjects were scanned in a blocked design fMRI experiment. In ‘parallel’ blocks short line elements within a circular central region had parallel orientations; in ‘concentric’ blocks they were aligned tangential to concentric circles. In ‘random’ blocks the elements were randomly oriented. The early retinotopic regions - V1, V2, V3, V3A and V4 - were previously localised in each subject. We compared the percentage BOLD signal change (against the random blocks as baseline) for the parallel and concentric conditions within these regions of interest.

Results

In general, there was more significant and more widespread activation of posterior brain regions by the parallel than by the concentric stimulus. In particular, for the retinotopic regions, the percentage BOLD signal change was greater for the parallel stimulus compared to concentric by ratios varying from 3.2:1 in V3 to 2.2:1 in V1. Areas that were better activated by concentric compared to parallel were found in only one of the subjects, in the right postcentral gyrus and left cingulate gyrus.

Conclusions

This unexpected result, of greater and more widespread activation produced by the parallel stimulus, is compatible with it being a less ‘specific’ stimulus than the concentric, and activating neurons across many cortical regions. Psychophysical studies (including our current work) suggest that there are specialized detectors involved in the global processing of concentric structure. The lower activation by the concentric stimulus suggests that these detectors are not very numerous or widespread.

Aspell, J. E. Braddick, O. J. Atkinson, J. Wattam-Bell, J. Bridge, H. (2005). Concentric and parallel textures differentially activate human visual cortex [Abstract]. Journal of Vision, 5(8):189, 189a, http://journalofvision.org/5/8/189/, doi:10.1167/5.8.189. [CrossRef]
Footnotes
 Supported by Medical Research Council grant G7908507
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