1
|
Abstract
Much evidence has shown that perception is biased towards previously presented similar stimuli, an effect recently termed serial dependence. Serial dependence affects nearly every aspect of perception, often causing gross perceptual distortions, especially for weak and ambiguous stimuli. Despite unwanted side-effects, empirical evidence and Bayesian modeling show that serial dependence acts to improve efficiency and is generally beneficial to the system. Consistent with models of predictive coding, the Bayesian priors of serial dependence are generated at high levels of cortical analysis, incorporating much perceptual experience, but feed back to lower sensory areas. These feedback loops may drive oscillations in the alpha range, linked strongly with serial dependence. The discovery of top-down predictive perceptual processes is not new, but the new, more quantitative approach characterizing serial dependence promises to lead to a deeper understanding of predictive perceptual processes and their underlying neural mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kyriaki Mikellidou
- Department of Management, University of Limassol, Nicosia, Cyprus;
- Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy;
- Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - David Charles Burr
- Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy;
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Esposito A, Chiarella SG, Raffone A, Nikolaev AR, van Leeuwen C. Perceptual bias contextualized in visually ambiguous stimuli. Cognition 2023; 230:105284. [PMID: 36174260 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The visual appearance of an object is a function of stimulus properties as well as perceptual biases imposed by the observer. The context-specific trade-off between both can be measured accurately in a perceptual judgment task, involving grouping by proximity in ambiguous dot lattices. Such grouping depends lawfully on a stimulus parameter of the dot lattices known as their aspect ratio (AR), whose effect is modulated by a perceptual bias representing the preference for a cardinal orientation. In two experiments, we investigated how preceding context can lead to bias modulation, either in a top-down fashion via visual working memory (VWM) or bottom-up via sensory priming. In Experiment 1, we embedded the perceptual judgment task in a change detection paradigm and studied how the factors of VWM load (complexity of the memory array) and content (congruency in orientation to the ensuing dot lattice) affect the prominence of perceptual bias. A robust vertical orientation bias was observed, which was increased by VWM load and modulated by congruent VWM content. In Experiment 2, dot lattices were preceded by oriented primes. Here, primes regardless of orientation elicited a vertical orientation bias in dot lattices compared to a neutral baseline. Taken together, the two experiments demonstrate that top-down context (VWM load and content) effectively controls orientation bias modulation, while bottom-up context (i.e., priming) merely acts as an undifferentiated trigger to perceptual bias. These findings characterize the temporal context sensitivity of Gestalt perception, shed light on the processes responsible for different perceptual outcomes of ambiguous stimuli, and identify some of the mechanisms controlling perceptual bias.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Esposito
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Salvatore Gaetano Chiarella
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Andrey R Nikolaev
- Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium; Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Cees van Leeuwen
- Brain and Cognition Research Unit, KU Leuven, Belgium; Center for Cognitive Science, TU Kaiserslautern, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Qian K. Examining the Impact of Human Face Stimulus on Shape-Contrast Effects during a Brief Presentation. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12070914. [PMID: 35884721 PMCID: PMC9313273 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12070914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2022] [Revised: 07/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Shape-contrast effects have been introduced to the investigations into face perception with the aim of exploring face adaptation in the context of norm-based coding. Research has indicated that shape-contrast effects occur even for shapes as complex as the human face. However, whether the complexity of face stimuli alters the magnitude of shape-contrast effects needs to be examined. In this study, emoticons and realistic human faces were used with the original white circle as the test stimuli. The results revealed that the shape-contrast effect was dependent on the stimulus. However, there was no significant difference between the shape-contrast effect evoked by upright faces and that evoked by inverted ones. This suggests that the face stimuli influenced the strength of the shape-contrast effect: the mechanism of this effect involved multiple stages of the visual system related to luminance and complexity, rather than the holistic face perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kun Qian
- Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ten Oever S, Sack AT. Interactions Between Rhythmic and Feature Predictions to Create Parallel Time-Content Associations. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:791. [PMID: 31427917 PMCID: PMC6688653 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain is inherently proactive, constantly predicting the when (moment) and what (content) of future input in order to optimize information processing. Previous research on such predictions has mainly studied the "when" or "what" domain separately, missing to investigate the potential integration of both types of predictive information. In the absence of such integration, temporal cues are assumed to enhance any upcoming content at the predicted moment in time (general temporal predictor). However, if the when and what prediction domain were integrated, a much more flexible neural mechanism may be proposed in which temporal-feature interactions would allow for the creation of multiple concurrent time-content predictions (parallel time-content predictor). Here, we used a temporal association paradigm in two experiments in which sound identity was systematically paired with a specific time delay after the offset of a rhythmic visual input stream. In Experiment 1, we revealed that participants associated the time delay of presentation with the identity of the sound. In Experiment 2, we unexpectedly found that the strength of this temporal association was negatively related to the EEG steady-state evoked responses (SSVEP) in preceding trials, showing that after high neuronal responses participants responded inconsistent with the time-content associations, similar to adaptation mechanisms. In this experiment, time-content associations were only present for low SSVEP responses in previous trials. These results tentatively show that it is possible to represent multiple time-content paired predictions in parallel, however, future research is needed to investigate this interaction further.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sanne Ten Oever
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.,Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Alexander T Sack
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.,Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Reindl A, Schubert T, Strobach T, Becker C, Scholtz G. Adaptation Aftereffects in the Perception of Crabs and Lobsters as Examples of Complex Natural Objects. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1905. [PMID: 30356769 PMCID: PMC6189407 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
To recognize a familiar object, incoming perceptual information is matched against object representations in memory. Mounting evidence suggests that these representations are not stable, but adapt flexibly to recently encountered perceptual information. This is evident in the form of aftereffects, where prolonged exposure to one object (adaptor) influences perception of the next (test stimulus). So far, adaptation aftereffects have been mainly shown for human faces and simple geometric shapes, and it has been concluded that face aftereffects partially derive from shape adaptation. However, it is largely unknown whether adaptation aftereffects generalize to other categories of complex, naturalistic biological objects, and if so, whether these effects can be explained by shape adaptation. To answer these questions, we conducted three experiments in which images of crabs and lobsters were presented in two versions: as complex, naturalistic images, or reduced to their simplified geometric shapes. In Experiment 1, we found robust adaptation aftereffects for the complex versions of the images, indicating that adaptation aftereffects generalize to animate objects other than faces. Experiment 2 showed adaptation aftereffects for the simplified stimuli, replicating previous findings on geometric shapes. Experiment 3 demonstrated that adaptation to the simplified animal shapes results in aftereffects on the complex naturalistic stimuli. Comparisons between experiments revealed that aftereffects were largest in the first experiment, in which complex stimuli served as adaptor and test stimuli. Together, these experiments show that the magnitude of adaptation aftereffects depends on the complexity of the adaptor, but not on that of the test stimuli, and that shape adaptation plays a role in - but cannot entirely account for - the object aftereffects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antónia Reindl
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung – An Interdisciplinary Laboratory” Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Torsten Schubert
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung – An Interdisciplinary Laboratory” Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Tilo Strobach
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Carola Becker
- Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung – An Interdisciplinary Laboratory” Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
- Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gerhard Scholtz
- Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung – An Interdisciplinary Laboratory” Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Yin P, Qiao H, Wu W, Qi L, Li Y, Zhong S, Zhang B. A Novel Biologically Inspired Visual Cognition Model: Automatic Extraction of Semantics, Formation of Integrated Concepts, and Reselection Features for Ambiguity. IEEE Trans Cogn Dev Syst 2018. [DOI: 10.1109/tcds.2017.2749978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
|
7
|
Wang X, Guo X, Chen L, Liu Y, Goldberg ME, Xu H. Auditory to Visual Cross-Modal Adaptation for Emotion: Psychophysical and Neural Correlates. Cereb Cortex 2018; 27:1337-1346. [PMID: 26733537 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhv321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptation is fundamental in sensory processing and has been studied extensively within the same sensory modality. However, little is known about adaptation across sensory modalities, especially in the context of high-level processing, such as the perception of emotion. Previous studies have shown that prolonged exposure to a face exhibiting one emotion, such as happiness, leads to contrastive biases in the perception of subsequently presented faces toward the opposite emotion, such as sadness. Such work has shown the importance of adaptation in calibrating face perception based on prior visual exposure. In the present study, we showed for the first time that emotion-laden sounds, like laughter, adapt the visual perception of emotional faces, that is, subjects more frequently perceived faces as sad after listening to a happy sound. Furthermore, via electroencephalography recordings and event-related potential analysis, we showed that there was a neural correlate underlying the perceptual bias: There was an attenuated response occurring at ∼ 400 ms to happy test faces and a quickened response to sad test faces, after exposure to a happy sound. Our results provide the first direct evidence for a behavioral cross-modal adaptation effect on the perception of facial emotion, and its neural correlate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaodong Wang
- Center for Psychological Engineering, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332, Singapore
| | - Xiaotao Guo
- CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Lin Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
| | - Yijun Liu
- Center for Psychological Engineering, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Michael E Goldberg
- Departments of Neuroscience, Neurology, Psychiatry and Ophthalmology, and the Kavli Neuroscience Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.,Mahoney-Keck Center for Brain and Behavior Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Hong Xu
- Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Zhao S, Israr A, Fenner M, Klatzky RL. Intermanual Apparent Tactile Motion and Its Extension to 3D Interactions. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON HAPTICS 2017; 10:555-566. [PMID: 28320677 DOI: 10.1109/toh.2017.2678502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Information provided by sensory systems is inherently ambiguous as to its source in the physical world. To arrive at a coherent representation, perception deploys heuristic rules and multimodal input, which potentially produce errors such as illusions. The current work uses these effects to create apparent tactile motion and illusory depth motion using sparse vibrotactile stimulation across the hands. Experiment 1 showed the effects of vibrotactile duration and temporal separation between the hands on the quality of perceived illusory linear motion. Experiment 2 indicated a compressed linear relation between the visual and tactile speeds, and established a linear function relating visual size to perceived tactile intensity at three durations. Experiment 3 introduced an "M-filter" algorithm that varies tactile stimulus amplitude by a parabolic function based on visual looming and receding. It demonstrated that the M-filters, accompanied by visual depth cues, can induce tactile motion in depth. Experiment 4 showed the M-filter algorithm is necessary to create tactile perception in depth, as opposed to apparent tactile motion. The current research has value for a basic understanding of haptic perception, as well as haptic applications that digitally generate perceptual representations of the distal world on small-sized devices in the space between the hands.
Collapse
|
9
|
Zimmer M, Zbanţ A, Németh K, Kovács G. Adaptation Duration Dissociates Category-, Image-, and Person-Specific Processes on Face-Evoked Event-Related Potentials. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1945. [PMID: 26733925 PMCID: PMC4686601 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2015] [Accepted: 12/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Several studies demonstrated that face perception is biased by the prior presentation of another face, a phenomenon termed as face-related after-effect (FAE). FAE is linked to a neural signal-reduction at occipito-temporal areas and it can be observed in the amplitude modulation of the early event-related potential (ERP) components. Recently, macaque single-cell recording studies suggested that manipulating the duration of the adaptor makes the selective adaptation of different visual motion processing steps possible. To date, however, only a few studies tested the effects of adaptor duration on the electrophysiological correlates of human face processing directly. The goal of the current study was to test the effect of adaptor duration on the image-, identity-, and generic category-specific face processing steps. To this end, in a two-alternative forced choice familiarity decision task we used five adaptor durations (ranging from 200-5000 ms) and four adaptor categories: adaptor and test were identical images-Repetition Suppression (RS); adaptor and test were different images of the Same Identity (SameID); adaptor and test images depicted Different Identities (DiffID); the adaptor was a Fourier phase-randomized image (No). Behaviorally, a strong priming effect was observed in both accuracy and response times for RS compared with both DiffID and No. The electrophysiological results suggest that rapid adaptation leads to a category-specific modulation of P100, N170, and N250. In addition, both identity and image-specific processes affected the N250 component during rapid adaptation. On the other hand, prolonged (5000 ms) adaptation enhanced, and extended category-specific adaptation processes over all tested ERP components. Additionally, prolonged adaptation led to the emergence of image-, and identity-specific modulations on the N170 and P2 components as well. In other words, there was a clear dissociation among category, identity-, and image-specific processing steps in the case of longer (3500 and 5000 ms) but not for shorter durations (< 3500 ms), reflected in the gradual reduction of N170 and enhancement of P2 in the No, DiffID, SameID, and RS conditions. Our findings imply that by manipulating adaptation duration one can dissociate the various steps of human face processing, reflected in the ERP response.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Márta Zimmer
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics Budapest, Hungary
| | - Adriana Zbanţ
- Faculty of Philosophy and Education, University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
| | - Kornél Németh
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gyula Kovács
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, Germany; DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Snyder JS, Schwiedrzik CM, Vitela AD, Melloni L. How previous experience shapes perception in different sensory modalities. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:594. [PMID: 26582982 PMCID: PMC4628108 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
What has transpired immediately before has a strong influence on how sensory stimuli are processed and perceived. In particular, temporal context can have contrastive effects, repelling perception away from the interpretation of the context stimulus, and attractive effects (TCEs), whereby perception repeats upon successive presentations of the same stimulus. For decades, scientists have documented contrastive and attractive temporal context effects mostly with simple visual stimuli. But both types of effects also occur in other modalities, e.g., audition and touch, and for stimuli of varying complexity, raising the possibility that context effects reflect general computational principles of sensory systems. Neuroimaging shows that contrastive and attractive context effects arise from neural processes in different areas of the cerebral cortex, suggesting two separate operations with distinct functional roles. Bayesian models can provide a functional account of both context effects, whereby prior experience adjusts sensory systems to optimize perception of future stimuli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joel S. Snyder
- Department of Psychology, University of NevadaLas Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | | | - A. Davi Vitela
- Department of Psychology, University of NevadaLas Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Lucia Melloni
- Department of Neurophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Brain ResearchFrankfurt, Germany
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia UniversityNew York, NY, USA
- Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York UniversityNew York, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Reindl A, Strobach T, Becker C, Scholtz G, Schubert T. Crab or lobster? Mental principles underlying the categorization of crustaceans by biology experts and non-experts. ZOOL ANZ 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2015.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
|
12
|
Perceptual adaptation to structure-from-motion depends on the size of adaptor and probe objects, but not on the similarity of their shapes. Atten Percept Psychophys 2014; 76:473-88. [PMID: 24178065 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0567-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Perceptual adaptation destabilizes the phenomenal appearance of multistable visual displays. Prolonged dominance of a perceptual state fatigues the associated neural population, lowering the likelihood of renewed perception of the same appearance (Nawrot & Blake in Perception & Psychophysics, 49, 230-44, 1991). Here, we used a selective adaptation paradigm to investigate perceptual adaptation for the illusory rotation of ambiguous structure-from-motion (SFM) displays. Specifically, we generated SFM objects with different three-dimensional shapes and presented them in random order, separating successive objects by brief blank periods, which included a mask. To assess the specificity of perceptual adaptation to the shape of SFM objects, we established the probability that a perceived direction of rotation persisted between successive objects of similar or dissimilar shape. We found that the strength of negative aftereffects depended on the volume, but not the shape, of adaptor and probe objects. More voluminous objects were both more effective as adaptor objects and more sensitive as probe objects. Surprisingly, we found these volume effects to be completely independent, since any relationship between two shapes (such as overlap between volumes, similarity of shape, or similarity of velocity profiles) failed to modulate the negative aftereffect. This pattern of results was the opposite of that observed for sensory memory of SFM objects, which reflects similarity between objects, but not volume of individual objects (Pastukhov et al. in Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 75, 1215-1229, 2013). The disparate specificities of perceptual adaptation and sensory memory for identical SFM objects suggest that the two aftereffects engage distinct neural representations, consistent with recent brain imaging results (Schwiedrzik et al. in Cerebral Cortex, 2012).
Collapse
|
13
|
Pavan A, Contillo A, Mather G. Modelling fast forms of visual neural plasticity using a modified second-order motion energy model. J Comput Neurosci 2014; 37:493-504. [DOI: 10.1007/s10827-014-0520-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2014] [Revised: 07/21/2014] [Accepted: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
14
|
Wang Y, Wang L, Xu Q, Liu D, Jiang Y. Domain-specific genetic influence on visual-ambiguity resolution. Psychol Sci 2014; 25:1600-7. [PMID: 24914030 DOI: 10.1177/0956797614535811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2013] [Accepted: 04/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual world is flooded with ambiguity. Generally, people can resolve the ambiguity almost instantaneously, as when they distinguish at a glance whether a maiden in a portrait by Picasso is in profile or facing front. However, perception of the same reality, though relatively stable at the individual level, can vary dramatically from person to person, manifesting idiosyncratic perceptual biases. What drives the heterogeneity of human vision as reflected in the resolution of visual ambiguity? Using the twin method, we demonstrated a significant genetic contribution to individual differences in the visual disambiguation of bistable biological-motion stimuli but not inanimate motion stimuli. These findings challenge the prevailing view that the way the human brain makes sense of visual input is largely shaped by a person's perceptual history. Rather, the visual perception of biologically salient information can be guided by adaptive mental "priors" that are genetically transmitted.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ying Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Li Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Qian Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Dong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Yi Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Gentile F, Rossion B. Temporal frequency tuning of cortical face-sensitive areas for individual face perception. Neuroimage 2014; 90:256-65. [PMID: 24321556 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.11.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2013] [Revised: 11/21/2013] [Accepted: 11/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Gentile
- Institute of Research in Psychology (IPSY), University of Louvain, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Brussels, Belgium; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Maastricht Brain Imaging Center (M-BIC), Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
| | - Bruno Rossion
- Institute of Research in Psychology (IPSY), University of Louvain, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Brussels, Belgium; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Maastricht Brain Imaging Center (M-BIC), Maastricht University, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Kaiser D, Walther C, Schweinberger SR, Kovács G. Dissociating the neural bases of repetition-priming and adaptation in the human brain for faces. J Neurophysiol 2013; 110:2727-38. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00277.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The repetition of a given stimulus leads to the attenuation of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal compared with unrepeated stimuli, a phenomenon called fMRI adaptation or repetition suppression (RS). Previous studies have related RS of the fMRI signal behaviorally both to improved performance for the repeated stimulus (priming) and to shifts of perception away from the first stimulus (adaptation-related aftereffects). Here we used identical task (sex discrimination), trial structure [ stimulus 1 (S1): 3,000 ms, interstimulus interval: 600 ms, stimulus 2 (S2): 300 ms], and S2 stimuli (androgynous faces) to test how RS of the face-specific areas of the occipito-temporal cortex relates to priming and aftereffects. By varying S1, we could induce priming (significantly faster reaction times when S1 and S2 were identical compared with different images) as well as sex-specific aftereffect [an increased ratio of male responses if S1 was a female face compared with ambiguous faces or to Fourier-randomized noise (FOU) images]. Presenting any face as S1 led to significant RS of the blood oxygen level-dependent signal in the fusiform and occipital face areas as well as in the lateral occipital cortex of both hemispheres compared with FOU, reflecting stimulus category-specific encoding. Additionally, while sex-specific adaptation effects were only observed in occipital face areas, primed trials led to a signal reduction in both face-selective regions. Altogether, these results suggest the differential neural mechanisms of adaptation and repetition priming.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kaiser
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Christian Walther
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany; and
| | - Stefan R. Schweinberger
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany; and
| | - Gyula Kovács
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
- DFG Research Unit Person Perception, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany; and
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Hartendorp MO, Van der Stigchel S, Postma A. To what extent do we process the nondominant object in a morphed figure? Evidence from a picture–word interference task. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2013.832197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
|
18
|
Walther C, Schweinberger SR, Kaiser D, Kovács G. Neural correlates of priming and adaptation in familiar face perception. Cortex 2013; 49:1963-77. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2012] [Revised: 07/06/2012] [Accepted: 08/19/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
|
19
|
Strobach T, Carbon CC. Face adaptation effects: reviewing the impact of adapting information, time, and transfer. Front Psychol 2013; 4:318. [PMID: 23760550 PMCID: PMC3669756 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2013] [Accepted: 05/16/2013] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to adapt is essential to live and survive in an ever-changing environment such as the human ecosystem. Here we review the literature on adaptation effects of face stimuli to give an overview of existing findings in this area, highlight gaps in its research literature, initiate new directions in face adaptation research, and help to design future adaptation studies. Furthermore, this review should lead to better understanding of the processing characteristics as well as the mental representations of face-relevant information. The review systematizes studies at a behavioral level in respect of a framework which includes three dimensions representing the major characteristics of studies in this field of research. These dimensions comprise (1) the specificity of adapting face information, e.g., identity, gender, or age aspects of the material to be adapted to (2) aspects of timing (e.g., the sustainability of adaptation effects) and (3) transfer relations between face images presented during adaptation and adaptation tests (e.g., images of the same or different identities). The review concludes with options for how to combine findings across different dimensions to demonstrate the relevance of our framework for future studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tilo Strobach
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University , Berlin , Germany ; Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University , Munich , Germany
| | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Hsiao JY, Chen YC, Spence C, Yeh SL. Assessing the effects of audiovisual semantic congruency on the perception of a bistable figure. Conscious Cogn 2012; 21:775-87. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2012.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2011] [Revised: 12/24/2011] [Accepted: 02/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
|
21
|
Not all face aftereffects are equal. Vision Res 2012; 64:7-16. [PMID: 22569398 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2012.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2011] [Revised: 04/25/2012] [Accepted: 04/30/2012] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
After prolonged exposure to a female face, faces that had previously seemed androgynous are more likely to be judged as male. Similarly, after prolonged exposure to a face with expanded features, faces that had previously seemed normal are more likely to be judged as having contracted features. These facial aftereffects have both been attributed to the impact of adaptation upon a norm-based opponent code, akin to low-level analyses of colour. While a good deal of evidence is consistent with this, some recent data is contradictory, motivating a more rigorous test. In behaviourally matched tasks we compared the characteristics of aftereffects generated by adapting to colour, to expanded or contracted faces, and to male or female faces. In our experiments opponent coding predicted that the appearance of the adapting image should change and that adaptation should induce symmetrical shifts of two category boundaries. This combination of predictions was firmly supported for colour adaptation, somewhat supported for facial distortion aftereffects, but not supported for facial gender aftereffects. Interestingly, the two face aftereffects we tested generated discrepant patterns of response shifts. Our data suggest that superficially similar aftereffects can ensue from mechanisms that differ qualitatively, and therefore that not all high-level categorical face aftereffects can be attributed to a common coding strategy.
Collapse
|
22
|
Klink PC, van Wezel RJA, van Ee R. United we sense, divided we fail: context-driven perception of ambiguous visual stimuli. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2012; 367:932-41. [PMID: 22371615 PMCID: PMC3282309 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Ambiguous visual stimuli provide the brain with sensory information that contains conflicting evidence for multiple mutually exclusive interpretations. Two distinct aspects of the phenomenological experience associated with viewing ambiguous visual stimuli are the apparent stability of perception whenever one perceptual interpretation is dominant, and the instability of perception that causes perceptual dominance to alternate between perceptual interpretations upon extended viewing. This review summarizes several ways in which contextual information can help the brain resolve visual ambiguities and construct temporarily stable perceptual experiences. Temporal context through prior stimulation or internal brain states brought about by feedback from higher cortical processing levels may alter the response characteristics of specific neurons involved in rivalry resolution. Furthermore, spatial or crossmodal context may strengthen the neuronal representation of one of the possible perceptual interpretations and consequently bias the rivalry process towards it. We suggest that contextual influences on perceptual choices with ambiguous visual stimuli can be highly informative about the neuronal mechanisms of context-driven inference in the general processes of perceptual decision-making.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- P C Klink
- Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
de Jong MC, Knapen T, van Ee R. Opposite influence of perceptual memory on initial and prolonged perception of sensory ambiguity. PLoS One 2012; 7:e30595. [PMID: 22295095 PMCID: PMC3266287 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2011] [Accepted: 12/23/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Observers continually make unconscious inferences about the state of the world based on ambiguous sensory information. This process of perceptual decision-making may be optimized by learning from experience. We investigated the influence of previous perceptual experience on the interpretation of ambiguous visual information. Observers were pre-exposed to a perceptually stabilized sequence of an ambiguous structure-from-motion stimulus by means of intermittent presentation. At the subsequent re-appearance of the same ambiguous stimulus perception was initially biased toward the previously stabilized perceptual interpretation. However, prolonged viewing revealed a bias toward the alternative perceptual interpretation. The prevalence of the alternative percept during ongoing viewing was largely due to increased durations of this percept, as there was no reliable decrease in the durations of the pre-exposed percept. Moreover, the duration of the alternative percept was modulated by the specific characteristics of the pre-exposure, whereas the durations of the pre-exposed percept were not. The increase in duration of the alternative percept was larger when the pre-exposure had lasted longer and was larger after ambiguous pre-exposure than after unambiguous pre-exposure. Using a binocular rivalry stimulus we found analogous perceptual biases, while pre-exposure did not affect eye-bias. We conclude that previously perceived interpretations dominate at the onset of ambiguous sensory information, whereas alternative interpretations dominate prolonged viewing. Thus, at first instance ambiguous information seems to be judged using familiar percepts, while re-evaluation later on allows for alternative interpretations.
Collapse
|
24
|
Hartendorp MO, Van der Stigchel S, Wagemans J, Klugkist I, Postma A. The activation of alternative response candidates: when do doubts kick in? Acta Psychol (Amst) 2012; 139:38-45. [PMID: 22100134 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2011] [Revised: 10/24/2011] [Accepted: 10/25/2011] [Indexed: 10/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In the current study, we investigated at which moment during visual object categorization alternative interpretations are most strongly activated. According to an early activation account, we are uncertain about how to interpret the visual information early in the categorization process. This uncertainty will vanish over time and therefore, the number of possible response candidates decreases over time. According to a late activation account, the visual information is categorized quickly, but after extensive viewing alternative interpretations become more strongly activated. Therefore, the number of possible response candidates increases over time. To increase perceptual uncertainty we used morphed figures composed of a dominant and nondominant object. The similarity rating between morphed figures and their nondominant object was taken as indicator for the activation of the nondominant response candidate: high similarity indicates that the nondominant object is relatively strongly activated as an alternative response candidate. Presentation times were varied in order to distinguish between the early and late activation account. Using a Bayesian model selection approach, we found support for the late activation account, but not for the early activation account. It thus seems that in a late stage of the categorization process the influence of the nondominant response candidate is strongest.
Collapse
|
25
|
High-level adaptation aftereffects for novel objects: The role of pre-existing representations. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:1923-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.03.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2010] [Revised: 03/09/2011] [Accepted: 03/11/2011] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
26
|
Zimmer M, Kovács G. Position specificity of adaptation-related face aftereffects. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2011; 366:586-95. [PMID: 21242145 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been shown that prolonged exposure to a human face leads to shape-selective visual aftereffects. It seems that these face-specific aftereffects (FAEs) have multiple components, related to the adaptation of earlier and higher level processing of visual stimuli. The largest magnitude of FAE, using long-term adaptation periods, is usually observed at the retinotopic position of the preceding adaptor stimulus. However, FAE is also detected, to a smaller degree, at other retinal positions in a spatially invariant way and this component depends less on the adaptation duration. Several lines of evidences suggest that while the position-specific FAE involves lower level areas of the ventral processing stream, the position-invariant FAE depends on the activation of higher level face-processing areas and the fusiform gyrus in particular. In the present paper, we summarize the available behavioural, electrophysiological and neuroimaging results regarding the spatial selectivity of FAE and discuss their implications for the visual stability of object representations across saccadic eye movements.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Márta Zimmer
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest H-1111, Hungary
| | | |
Collapse
|
27
|
Daelli V, Treves A. Neural attractor dynamics in object recognition. Exp Brain Res 2010; 203:241-8. [PMID: 20437171 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-010-2243-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2009] [Accepted: 03/31/2010] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
A widely held theory dating back to Donald Hebb posits neuronal attractor dynamics to underlie the retrieval of objects from long-term memory and the categorization of ambiguous stimuli, but empirical support for this notion had so far pointed more at self-sustained activity than at attractor dynamics per se. Complex perceptual effects modulating memory retrieval, including priming effects, are compatible with both attractor dynamics and alternative hypotheses, which seem to result in opposite predictions at the neuronal level. Recent recordings in monkeys indicate that attractor dynamics may indeed be observed, as it unfolds in time over a few hundred milliseconds, if neurons are probed in infero-temporal cortex during the categorization of ambiguous visual stimuli. Extending the analysis of such phenomena promises to take us beyond the perceptual periphery, where neuronal responses are still largely determined by sensory stimuli. Understanding the nature of transitions between attractor states opens the door to higher-level thought processes.
Collapse
|