Abstract
A huge number of studies have considered low-level visual processes (such as the detection of edges, colors and motion) and high-level visual processes (such as the processing of faces and scenes). Relatively few studies examine the nature of intermediate visual representations, or "mid-level" vision. One approach to studying mid-level visual representations might be to try and understand the mechanisms that combine the outputs of V1 neurons to create an intermediate feature detector. We have used adaptation techniques to try and probe the existence of detectors for combinations of sinusoids that might form plaid form detectors or curvature detectors. We have shown for both of these features that adaptation effects to the compound has been greater than predicted by adaptation to the parts alone, and that this is greatest when the components form a plaid that we perceive as coherent or a curve that is continuous. To create such representations requires simple logical AND-gates, which might be formed simply by summing the nonlinear outputs of V1 neurons. Many questions remain however, about where in the visual cortex these representations are stored, and how the different levels of representation interact.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2014