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Arcaro M, Livingstone M. A Whole-Brain Topographic Ontology. Annu Rev Neurosci 2024; 47:21-40. [PMID: 38360565 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-082823-073701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
It is a common view that the intricate array of specialized domains in the ventral visual pathway is innately prespecified. What this review postulates is that it is not. We explore the origins of domain specificity, hypothesizing that the adult brain emerges from an interplay between a domain-general map-based architecture, shaped by intrinsic mechanisms, and experience. We argue that the most fundamental innate organization of cortex in general, and not just the visual pathway, is a map-based topography that governs how the environment maps onto the brain, how brain areas interconnect, and ultimately, how the brain processes information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Arcaro
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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2
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Kubota E, Yan X, Tung S, Fascendini B, Tyagi C, Duhameau S, Ortiz D, Grotheer M, Natu VS, Keil B, Grill-Spector K. White matter connections of human ventral temporal cortex are organized by cytoarchitecture, eccentricity, and category-selectivity from birth. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.29.605705. [PMID: 39131283 PMCID: PMC11312531 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.29.605705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
Category-selective regions in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) have a consistent anatomical organization, which is hypothesized to be scaffolded by white matter connections. However, it is unknown how white matter connections are organized from birth. Here, we scanned newborn to 6-month-old infants and adults and used a data-driven approach to determine the organization of the white matter connections of VTC. We find that white matter connections are organized by cytoarchitecture, eccentricity, and category from birth. Connectivity profiles of functional regions in the same cytoarchitectonic area are similar from birth and develop in parallel, with decreases in endpoint connectivity to lateral occipital, and parietal, and somatosensory cortex, and increases to lateral prefrontal cortex. Additionally, connections between VTC and early visual cortex are organized topographically by eccentricity bands and predict eccentricity biases in VTC. These data have important implications for theories of cortical functional development and open new possibilities for understanding typical and atypical white matter development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Kubota
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Xiaoqian Yan
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Sarah Tung
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Bella Fascendini
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Peretsmfan Scully Hall, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Christina Tyagi
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Sophie Duhameau
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Danya Ortiz
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Mareike Grotheer
- Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Frankfurter Str. 35, Marburg 35037, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior – CMBB, Universities of Marburg, Giessen, and Darmstadt, Marburg 35039, Germany
| | - Vaidehi S. Natu
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Boris Keil
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior – CMBB, Universities of Marburg, Giessen, and Darmstadt, Marburg 35039, Germany
- Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection, TH Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Giessen 35390, Germany
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Baldinger Str., Marburg 35043, Germany
- LOEWE Research Cluster for Advanced Medical Physics in Imaging and Therapy (ADMIT), TH Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Giessen 35390, Germany
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, 288 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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3
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Broda MD, de Haas B. Individual differences in human gaze behavior generalize from faces to objects. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2322149121. [PMID: 38470925 PMCID: PMC10963009 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2322149121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Individuals differ in where they fixate on a face, with some looking closer to the eyes while others prefer the mouth region. These individual biases are highly robust, generalize from the lab to the outside world, and have been associated with social cognition and associated disorders. However, it is unclear, whether these biases are specific to faces or influenced by domain-general mechanisms of vision. Here, we juxtaposed these hypotheses by testing whether individual face fixation biases generalize to inanimate objects. We analyzed >1.8 million fixations toward faces and objects in complex natural scenes from 405 participants tested in multiple labs. Consistent interindividual differences in fixation positions were highly inter-correlated across faces and objects in all samples. Observers who fixated closer to the eye region also fixated higher on inanimate objects and vice versa. Furthermore, the inter-individual spread of fixation positions scaled with target size in precisely the same, non-linear manner for faces and objects. These findings contradict a purely domain-specific account of individual face gaze. Instead, they suggest significant domain-general contributions to the individual way we look at faces, a finding with potential relevance for basic vision, face perception, social cognition, and associated clinical conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Davide Broda
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen35394, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Universities of Marburg, Giessen, and Darmstadt, Marburg35032, Germany
| | - Benjamin de Haas
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen35394, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Universities of Marburg, Giessen, and Darmstadt, Marburg35032, Germany
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4
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Kreichman O, Gilaie‐Dotan S. Parafoveal vision reveals qualitative differences between fusiform face area and parahippocampal place area. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26616. [PMID: 38379465 PMCID: PMC10879909 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The center-periphery visual field axis guides early visual system organization with enhanced resources devoted to central vision leading to reduced peripheral performance relative to that of central vision (i.e., behavioral eccentricity effect) for many visual functions. The center-periphery organization extends to high-order visual cortex where, for example, the well-studied face-sensitive fusiform face area (FFA) shows sensitivity to central vision and the place-sensitive parahippocampal place area (PPA) shows sensitivity to peripheral vision. As we have recently found that face perception is more sensitive to eccentricity than place perception, here we examined whether these behavioral findings reflect differences in FFA's and PPA's sensitivities to eccentricity. We assumed FFA would show higher sensitivity to eccentricity than PPA would, but that both regions' modulation by eccentricity would be invariant to the viewed category. We parametrically investigated (fMRI, n = 32) how FFA's and PPA's activations are modulated by eccentricity (≤8°) and category (upright/inverted faces/houses) while keeping stimulus size constant. As expected, FFA showed an overall higher sensitivity to eccentricity than PPA. However, both regions' activation modulations by eccentricity were dependent on the viewed category. In FFA, a reduction of activation with growing eccentricity ("BOLD eccentricity effect") was found (with different amplitudes) for all categories. In PPA however, qualitatively different BOLD eccentricity effect modulations were found (e.g., at 8° mild BOLD eccentricity effect for houses but a reverse BOLD eccentricity effect for faces and no modulation for inverted faces). Our results emphasize that peripheral vision investigations are critical to further our understanding of visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Kreichman
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Life ScienceBar Ilan UniversityRamat GanIsrael
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research CenterBar Ilan UniversityRamat GanIsrael
| | - Sharon Gilaie‐Dotan
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Life ScienceBar Ilan UniversityRamat GanIsrael
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research CenterBar Ilan UniversityRamat GanIsrael
- UCL Institute of Cognitive NeuroscienceLondonUK
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5
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Long B, Fan JE, Huey H, Chai Z, Frank MC. Parallel developmental changes in children's production and recognition of line drawings of visual concepts. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1191. [PMID: 38331850 PMCID: PMC10853520 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44529-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Childhood is marked by the rapid accumulation of knowledge and the prolific production of drawings. We conducted a systematic study of how children create and recognize line drawings of visual concepts. We recruited 2-10-year-olds to draw 48 categories via a kiosk at a children's museum, resulting in >37K drawings. We analyze changes in the category-diagnostic information in these drawings using vision algorithms and annotations of object parts. We find developmental gains in children's inclusion of category-diagnostic information that are not reducible to variation in visuomotor control or effort. Moreover, even unrecognizable drawings contain information about the animacy and size of the category children tried to draw. Using guessing games at the same kiosk, we find that children improve across childhood at recognizing each other's line drawings. This work leverages vision algorithms to characterize developmental changes in children's drawings and suggests that these changes reflect refinements in children's internal representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bria Long
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, 94305, CA, USA.
| | - Judith E Fan
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, 94305, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, 92093, CA, USA
| | - Holly Huey
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, 92093, CA, USA
| | - Zixian Chai
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, 94305, CA, USA
| | - Michael C Frank
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, 92093, CA, USA
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6
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Kubota E, Grill-Spector K, Nordt M. Rethinking cortical recycling in ventral temporal cortex. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:8-17. [PMID: 37858388 PMCID: PMC10841108 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
High-level visual areas in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) support recognition of important categories, such as faces and words. Word-selective regions are left lateralized and emerge at the onset of reading instruction. Face-selective regions are right lateralized and have been documented in infancy. Prevailing theories suggest that face-selective regions become right lateralized due to competition with word-selective regions in the left hemisphere. However, recent longitudinal studies examining face- and word-selective responses in childhood do not provide support for this theory. Instead, there is evidence that word representations recycle cortex previously involved in processing other stimuli, such as limbs. These findings call for more longitudinal investigations of cortical recycling and a new era of work that links visual experience and behavior with neural responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Kubota
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Marisa Nordt
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; JARA-Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, RWTH Aachen and Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany
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7
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Nordt M, Gomez J, Natu VS, Rezai AA, Finzi D, Kular H, Grill-Spector K. Longitudinal development of category representations in ventral temporal cortex predicts word and face recognition. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8010. [PMID: 38049393 PMCID: PMC10696026 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43146-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Regions in ventral temporal cortex that are involved in visual recognition of categories like words and faces undergo differential development during childhood. However, categories are also represented in distributed responses across high-level visual cortex. How distributed category representations develop and if this development relates to behavioral changes in recognition remains largely unknown. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to longitudinally measure the development of distributed responses across ventral temporal cortex to 10 categories in school-age children over several years. Our results reveal both strengthening and weakening of category representations with age, which was mainly driven by changes across category-selective voxels. Representations became particularly more distinct for words in the left hemisphere and for faces bilaterally. Critically, distinctiveness for words and faces across category-selective voxels in left and right lateral ventral temporal cortex, respectively, predicted individual children's word and face recognition performance. These results suggest that the development of distributed representations in ventral temporal cortex has behavioral ramifications and advance our understanding of prolonged cortical development during childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa Nordt
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
- JARA-Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, RWTH Aachen & Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany.
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Vaidehi S Natu
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alex A Rezai
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Dawn Finzi
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Holly Kular
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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8
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Heitmann C, Zhan M, Linke M, Hölig C, Kekunnaya R, van Hoof R, Goebel R, Röder B. Early visual experience refines the retinotopic organization within and across visual cortical regions. Curr Biol 2023; 33:4950-4959.e4. [PMID: 37918397 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Early visual areas are retinotopically organized in human and non-human primates. Population receptive field (pRF) size increases with eccentricity and from lower- to higher-level visual areas. Furthermore, the cortical magnification factor (CMF), a measure of how much cortical space is devoted to each degree of visual angle, is typically larger for foveal as opposed to peripheral regions of the visual field. Whether this fine-scale organization within and across visual areas depends on early visual experience has yet been unknown. Here, we employed 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging pRF mapping to assess the retinotopic organization of early visual regions (i.e., V1, V2, and V3) in eight sight recovery individuals with a history of congenital blindness until a maximum of 4 years of age. Compared with sighted controls, foveal pRF sizes in these individuals were larger, and pRF sizes did not show the typical increase with eccentricity and down the visual cortical processing stream (V1-V2-V3). Cortical magnification was overall diminished and decreased less from foveal to parafoveal visual field locations. Furthermore, cortical magnification correlated with visual acuity in sight recovery individuals. The results of this study suggest that early visual experience is essential for refining a presumably innate prototypical retinotopic organization in humans within and across visual areas, which seems to be crucial for acquiring full visual capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolin Heitmann
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Sciences, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Minye Zhan
- U992 (Cognitive neuroimaging unit), NeuroSpin, INSERM-CEA, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - Madita Linke
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Sciences, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Cordula Hölig
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Sciences, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Ramesh Kekunnaya
- U992 (Cognitive neuroimaging unit), NeuroSpin, INSERM-CEA, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - Rick van Hoof
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Development and Research, Brain Innovation B.V., Oxfordlaan 55, 6229 EV Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Movement Sciences, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany; Child Sight Institute, Jasti V. Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana 500034, India.
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9
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Borovska P, de Haas B. Faces in scenes attract rapid saccades. J Vis 2023; 23:11. [PMID: 37552021 PMCID: PMC10411644 DOI: 10.1167/jov.23.8.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
During natural vision, the human visual system has to process upcoming eye movements in parallel to currently fixated stimuli. Saccades targeting isolated faces are known to have lower latency and higher velocity, but it is unclear how this generalizes to the natural cycle of saccades and fixations during free-viewing of complex scenes. To which degree can the visual system process high-level features of extrafoveal stimuli when they are embedded in visual clutter and compete with concurrent foveal input? Here, we investigated how free-viewing dynamics vary as a function of an upcoming fixation target while controlling for various low-level factors. We found strong evidence that face- versus inanimate object-directed saccades are preceded by shorter fixations and have higher peak velocity. Interestingly, the boundary conditions for these two effects are dissociated. The effect on fixation duration was limited to face saccades, which were small and followed the trajectory of the preceding one, early in a trial. This is reminiscent of a recently proposed model of perisaccadic retinotopic shifts of attention. The effect on saccadic velocity, however, extended to very large saccades and increased with trial duration. These findings suggest that multiple, independent mechanisms interact to process high-level features of extrafoveal targets and modulate the dynamics of natural vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Borovska
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Benjamin de Haas
- Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
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10
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Tansey R, Graff K, Rohr CS, Dimond D, Ip A, Yin S, Dewey D, Bray S. Functional MRI responses to naturalistic stimuli are increasingly typical across early childhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 62:101268. [PMID: 37327695 PMCID: PMC10275704 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
While findings show that throughout development, there are child- and age-specific patterns of brain functioning, there is also evidence for significantly greater inter-individual response variability in young children relative to adults. It is currently unclear whether this increase in functional "typicality" (i.e., inter-individual similarity) is a developmental process that occurs across early childhood, and what changes in BOLD response may be driving changes in typicality. We collected fMRI data from 81 typically developing 4-8-year-old children during passive viewing of age-appropriate television clips and asked whether there is increasing typicality of brain response across this age range. We found that the "increasing typicality" hypothesis was supported across many regions engaged by passive viewing. Post hoc analyses showed that in a priori ROIs related to language and face processing, the strength of the group-average shared component of activity increased with age, with no concomitant decline in residual signal or change in spatial extent or variability. Together, this suggests that increasing inter-individual similarity of functional responses to audiovisual stimuli is an important feature of early childhood functional brain development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryann Tansey
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
| | - Kirk Graff
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Christiane S Rohr
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Dennis Dimond
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Amanda Ip
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Shelly Yin
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Deborah Dewey
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Signe Bray
- Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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11
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Himmelberg MM, Winawer J, Carrasco M. Polar angle asymmetries in visual perception and neural architecture. Trends Neurosci 2023; 46:445-458. [PMID: 37031051 PMCID: PMC10192146 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2023.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/10/2023]
Abstract
Human visual performance changes with visual field location. It is best at the center of gaze and declines with eccentricity, and also varies markedly with polar angle. These perceptual polar angle asymmetries are linked to asymmetries in the organization of the visual system. We review and integrate research quantifying how performance changes with visual field location and how this relates to neural organization at multiple stages of the visual system. We first briefly review how performance varies with eccentricity and the neural foundations of this effect. We then focus on perceptual polar angle asymmetries and their neural foundations. Characterizing perceptual and neural variations across and around the visual field contributes to our understanding of how the brain translates visual signals into neural representations which form the basis of visual perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc M Himmelberg
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| | - Jonathan Winawer
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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12
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Jung Y, Forest TA, Walther DB, Finn AS. Neither Enhanced Nor Lost: The Unique Role of Attention in Children's Neural Representations. J Neurosci 2023; 43:3849-3859. [PMID: 37055182 PMCID: PMC10217988 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0159-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023] Open
Abstract
A defining feature of children's cognition is the especially slow development of their attention. Despite a rich behavioral literature characterizing the development of attention, little is known about how developing attentional abilities modulate neural representations in children. This information is critical to understanding how attentional development shapes the way children process information. One possibility is that attention might be less likely to shape neural representations in children as compared with adults. In particular, representations of attended items may be less likely to be enhanced relative to unattended items. To investigate this possibility, we measured brain activity using fMRI while children (seven to nine years; male and female) and adults (21-31 years; male and female) performed a one-back task in which they were directed to attend to either motion direction or an object in a display where both were present. We used multivoxel pattern analysis to compare decoding accuracy of attended and unattended information. Consistent with attentional enhancement, we found higher decoding accuracy for task-relevant information (i.e., objects in the object-attended condition) than for task-irrelevant information (i.e., motion in the object-attended condition) in adults' visual cortices. However, in children's visual cortices, both task-relevant and task-irrelevant information were decoded equally well. What is more, whole-brain analysis showed that the children represented task-irrelevant information more than adults in multiple regions across the brain, including the prefrontal cortex. These findings show that (1) attention does not modulate neural representations in the child visual cortex, and (2) developing brains can, and do, represent more information than mature brains.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Children have been shown to struggle with maintaining their attention to specific information, and at the same time, can show better learning of "distractors." While these are critical properties of childhood, their underlying neural mechanisms are unknown. To fill in this critical knowledge gap, we explored how attention shapes what is represented in children's and adults' brains using fMRI while both were asked to focus on just one of two things (objects and motion). We found that unlike adults, who prioritize the information they were asked to focus on, children represent both what they were asked to prioritize and what they were asked to ignore. This shows that attention has a fundamentally different impact on children's neural representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaelan Jung
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | - Tess Allegra Forest
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada
| | - Dirk B Walther
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada
| | - Amy S Finn
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada
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13
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Himmelberg MM, Tünçok E, Gomez J, Grill-Spector K, Carrasco M, Winawer J. Comparing retinotopic maps of children and adults reveals a late-stage change in how V1 samples the visual field. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1561. [PMID: 36944643 PMCID: PMC10030632 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37280-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Adult visual performance differs with angular location -it is better for stimuli along the horizontal than vertical, and lower than upper vertical meridian of the visual field. These perceptual asymmetries are paralleled by asymmetries in cortical surface area in primary visual cortex (V1). Children, unlike adults, have similar visual performance at the lower and upper vertical meridian. Do children have similar V1 surface area representing the upper and lower vertical meridian? Using MRI, we measure the surface area of retinotopic maps (V1-V3) in children and adults. Many features of the maps are similar between groups, including greater V1 surface area for the horizontal than vertical meridian. However, unlike adults, children have a similar amount of V1 surface area representing the lower and upper vertical meridian. These data reveal a late-stage change in V1 organization that may relate to the emergence of the visual performance asymmetry along the vertical meridian by adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc M Himmelberg
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Ekin Tünçok
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Jonathan Winawer
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
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14
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Kubota E, Grotheer M, Finzi D, Natu VS, Gomez J, Grill-Spector K. White matter connections of high-level visual areas predict cytoarchitecture better than category-selectivity in childhood, but not adulthood. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2485-2506. [PMID: 35671505 PMCID: PMC10016065 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Ventral temporal cortex (VTC) consists of high-level visual regions that are arranged in consistent anatomical locations across individuals. This consistency has led to several hypotheses about the factors that constrain the functional organization of VTC. A prevailing theory is that white matter connections influence the organization of VTC, however, the nature of this constraint is unclear. Here, we test 2 hypotheses: (1) white matter tracts are specific for each category or (2) white matter tracts are specific to cytoarchitectonic areas of VTC. To test these hypotheses, we used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging to identify white matter tracts and functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify category-selective regions in VTC in children and adults. We find that in childhood, white matter connections are linked to cytoarchitecture rather than category-selectivity. In adulthood, however, white matter connections are linked to both cytoarchitecture and category-selectivity. These results suggest a rethinking of the view that category-selective regions in VTC have category-specific white matter connections early in development. Instead, these findings suggest that the neural hardware underlying the processing of categorical stimuli may be more domain-general than previously thought, particularly in childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Kubota
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Mareike Grotheer
- Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg 35039, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, CMBB, Philipps-Universität Marburg and Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Dawn Finzi
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Vaidehi S Natu
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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15
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Wedge-Roberts R, Aston S, Beierholm U, Kentridge R, Hurlbert A, Nardini M, Olkkonen M. Developmental changes in colour constancy in a naturalistic object selection task. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13306. [PMID: 35943256 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
When the illumination falling on a surface change, so does the reflected light. Despite this, adult observers are good at perceiving surfaces as relatively unchanging-an ability termed colour constancy. Very few studies have investigated colour constancy in infants, and even fewer in children. Here we asked whether there is a difference in colour constancy between children and adults; what the developmental trajectory is between six and 11 years; and whether the pattern of constancy across illuminations and reflectances differs between adults and children. To this end, we developed a novel, child-friendly computer-based object selection task. In this, observers saw a dragon's favourite sweet under a neutral illumination and picked the matching sweet from an array of eight seen under a different illumination (blue, yellow, red, or green). This set contained a reflectance match (colour constant; perfect performance) and a tristimulus match (colour inconstant). We ran two experiments, with two-dimensional scenes in one and three-dimensional renderings in the other. Twenty-six adults and 33 children took part in the first experiment; 26 adults and 40 children took part in the second. Children performed better than adults on this task, and their performance decreased with age in both experiments. We found differences across illuminations and sweets, but a similar pattern across both age groups. This unexpected finding might reflect a real decrease in colour constancy from childhood to adulthood, explained by developmental changes in the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underpinning colour constancy, or differences in task strategies between children and adults. HIGHLIGHTS: Six- to 11-year-old children demonstrated better performance than adults on a colour constancy object selection task. Performance decreased with age over childhood. These findings may indicate development of cognitive strategies used to overcome automatic colour constancy mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stacey Aston
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | | | - Robert Kentridge
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK.,Azrieli Programme in Brain, Mind & Consciousnesses, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada
| | - Anya Hurlbert
- Neuroscience, Institute of Biosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Marko Nardini
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Maria Olkkonen
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK.,Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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16
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Bracci S, Op de Beeck HP. Understanding Human Object Vision: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Representations. Annu Rev Psychol 2023; 74:113-135. [PMID: 36378917 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-032720-041031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Objects are the core meaningful elements in our visual environment. Classic theories of object vision focus upon object recognition and are elegant and simple. Some of their proposals still stand, yet the simplicity is gone. Recent evolutions in behavioral paradigms, neuroscientific methods, and computational modeling have allowed vision scientists to uncover the complexity of the multidimensional representational space that underlies object vision. We review these findings and propose that the key to understanding this complexity is to relate object vision to the full repertoire of behavioral goals that underlie human behavior, running far beyond object recognition. There might be no such thing as core object recognition, and if it exists, then its importance is more limited than traditionally thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Bracci
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy;
| | - Hans P Op de Beeck
- Leuven Brain Institute, Research Unit Brain & Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;
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17
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Lynn A, Amso D. Attention along the cortical hierarchy: Development matters. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2023; 14:e1575. [PMID: 34480779 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
We build on the existing biased competition view to argue that attention is an emergent property of neural computations within and across hierarchically embedded and structurally connected cortical pathways. Critically then, one must ask, what is attention emergent from? Within this framework, developmental changes in the quality of sensory input and feedforward-feedback information flow shape the emergence and efficiency of attention. Several gradients of developing structural and functional cortical architecture across the caudal-to-rostral axis provide the substrate for attention to emerge. Neural activity within visual areas depends on neuronal density, receptive field size, tuning properties of neurons, and the location of and competition between features and objects in the visual field. These visual cortical properties highlight the information processing bottleneck attention needs to resolve. Recurrent feedforward and feedback connections convey sensory information through a series of steps at each level of the cortical hierarchy, integrating sensory information across the entire extent of the cortical hierarchy and linking sensory processing to higher-order brain regions. Higher-order regions concurrently provide input conveying behavioral context and goals. Thus, attention reflects the output of a series of complex biased competition neural computations that occur within and across hierarchically embedded cortical regions. Cortical development proceeds along the caudal-to-rostral axis, mirroring the flow in sensory information from caudal to rostral regions, and visual processing continues to develop into childhood. Examining both typical and atypical development will offer critical mechanistic insight not otherwise available in the adult stable state. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Lynn
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Dima Amso
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
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18
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Chen X, Liu X, Parker BJ, Zhen Z, Weiner KS. Functionally and structurally distinct fusiform face area(s) in over 1000 participants. Neuroimage 2023. [PMID: 36427753 DOI: 10.1101/2022.04.08.487562v1.full.pdf] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The fusiform face area (FFA) is a widely studied region causally involved in face perception. Even though cognitive neuroscientists have been studying the FFA for over two decades, answers to foundational questions regarding the function, architecture, and connectivity of the FFA from a large (N>1000) group of participants are still lacking. To fill this gap in knowledge, we quantified these multimodal features of fusiform face-selective regions in 1053 participants in the Human Connectome Project. After manually defining over 4,000 fusiform face-selective regions, we report five main findings. First, 68.76% of hemispheres have two cortically separate regions (pFus-faces/FFA-1 and mFus-faces/FFA-2). Second, in 26.69% of hemispheres, pFus-faces/FFA-1 and mFus-faces/FFA-2 are spatially contiguous, yet are distinct based on functional, architectural, and connectivity metrics. Third, pFus-faces/FFA-1 is more face-selective than mFus-faces/FFA-2, and the two regions have distinct functional connectivity fingerprints. Fourth, pFus-faces/FFA-1 is cortically thinner and more heavily myelinated than mFus-faces/FFA-2. Fifth, face-selective patterns and functional connectivity fingerprints of each region are more similar in monozygotic than dizygotic twins and more so than architectural gradients. As we share our areal definitions with the field, future studies can explore how structural and functional features of these regions will inform theories regarding how visual categories are represented in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiayu Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xingyu Liu
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Benjamin J Parker
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - Zonglei Zhen
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Kevin S Weiner
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
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19
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Chen X, Liu X, Parker BJ, Zhen Z, Weiner KS. Functionally and structurally distinct fusiform face area(s) in over 1000 participants. Neuroimage 2023; 265:119765. [PMID: 36427753 PMCID: PMC9889174 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The fusiform face area (FFA) is a widely studied region causally involved in face perception. Even though cognitive neuroscientists have been studying the FFA for over two decades, answers to foundational questions regarding the function, architecture, and connectivity of the FFA from a large (N>1000) group of participants are still lacking. To fill this gap in knowledge, we quantified these multimodal features of fusiform face-selective regions in 1053 participants in the Human Connectome Project. After manually defining over 4,000 fusiform face-selective regions, we report five main findings. First, 68.76% of hemispheres have two cortically separate regions (pFus-faces/FFA-1 and mFus-faces/FFA-2). Second, in 26.69% of hemispheres, pFus-faces/FFA-1 and mFus-faces/FFA-2 are spatially contiguous, yet are distinct based on functional, architectural, and connectivity metrics. Third, pFus-faces/FFA-1 is more face-selective than mFus-faces/FFA-2, and the two regions have distinct functional connectivity fingerprints. Fourth, pFus-faces/FFA-1 is cortically thinner and more heavily myelinated than mFus-faces/FFA-2. Fifth, face-selective patterns and functional connectivity fingerprints of each region are more similar in monozygotic than dizygotic twins and more so than architectural gradients. As we share our areal definitions with the field, future studies can explore how structural and functional features of these regions will inform theories regarding how visual categories are represented in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiayu Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xingyu Liu
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Benjamin J Parker
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - Zonglei Zhen
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Kevin S Weiner
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States; Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
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20
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Farahbakhsh M, Anderson EJ, Maimon-Mor RO, Rider A, Greenwood JA, Hirji N, Zaman S, Jones PR, Schwarzkopf DS, Rees G, Michaelides M, Dekker TM. A demonstration of cone function plasticity after gene therapy in achromatopsia. Brain 2022; 145:3803-3815. [PMID: 35998912 PMCID: PMC9679164 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awac226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in regenerative therapy have placed the treatment of previously incurable eye diseases within arms' reach. Achromatopsia is a severe monogenic heritable retinal disease that disrupts cone function from birth, leaving patients with complete colour blindness, low acuity, photosensitivity and nystagmus. While successful gene-replacement therapy in non-primate models of achromatopsia has raised widespread hopes for clinical treatment, it was yet to be determined if and how these therapies can induce new cone function in the human brain. Using a novel multimodal approach, we demonstrate for the first time that gene therapy can successfully activate dormant cone-mediated pathways in children with achromatopsia (CNGA3- and CNGB3-associated, 10-15 years). To test this, we combined functional MRI population receptive field mapping and psychophysics with stimuli that selectively measure cone photoreceptor signalling. We measured cortical and visual cone function before and after gene therapy in four paediatric patients, evaluating treatment-related change against benchmark data from untreated patients (n = 9) and normal-sighted participants (n = 28). After treatment, two of the four children displayed strong evidence for novel cone-mediated signals in visual cortex, with a retinotopic pattern that was not present in untreated achromatopsia and which is highly unlikely to emerge by chance. Importantly, this change was paired with a significant improvement in psychophysical measures of cone-mediated visual function. These improvements were specific to the treated eye, and provide strong evidence for successful read-out and use of new cone-mediated information. These data show for the first time that gene replacement therapy in achromatopsia within the plastic period of development can awaken dormant cone-signalling pathways after years of deprivation. This reveals unprecedented neural plasticity in the developing human nervous system and offers great promise for emerging regenerative therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahtab Farahbakhsh
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Elaine J Anderson
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Roni O Maimon-Mor
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Andy Rider
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
| | - John A Greenwood
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Nashila Hirji
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London EC1V 2PD, UK
| | - Serena Zaman
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London EC1V 2PD, UK
| | - Pete R Jones
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Division of Optometry and Visual Sciences; School of Health Sciences; City, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, UK
| | - D Samuel Schwarzkopf
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
| | - Geraint Rees
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AZ, UK
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Michel Michaelides
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London EC1V 2PD, UK
| | - Tessa M Dekker
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK
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21
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Gaziv G, Beliy R, Granot N, Hoogi A, Strappini F, Golan T, Irani M. Self-supervised Natural Image Reconstruction and Large-scale Semantic Classification from Brain Activity. Neuroimage 2022; 254:119121. [PMID: 35342004 PMCID: PMC9133799 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Reconstructing natural images and decoding their semantic category from fMRI brain recordings is challenging. Acquiring sufficient pairs of images and their corresponding fMRI responses, which span the huge space of natural images, is prohibitive. We present a novel self-supervised approach that goes well beyond the scarce paired data, for achieving both: (i) state-of-the art fMRI-to-image reconstruction, and (ii) first-ever large-scale semantic classification from fMRI responses. By imposing cycle consistency between a pair of deep neural networks (from image-to-fMRI & from fMRI-to-image), we train our image reconstruction network on a large number of "unpaired" natural images (images without fMRI recordings) from many novel semantic categories. This enables to adapt our reconstruction network to a very rich semantic coverage without requiring any explicit semantic supervision. Specifically, we find that combining our self-supervised training with high-level perceptual losses, gives rise to new reconstruction & classification capabilities. In particular, this perceptual training enables to classify well fMRIs of never-before-seen semantic classes, without requiring any class labels during training. This gives rise to: (i) Unprecedented image-reconstruction from fMRI of never-before-seen images (evaluated by image metrics and human testing), and (ii) Large-scale semantic classification of categories that were never-before-seen during network training. Such large-scale (1000-way) semantic classification from fMRI recordings has never been demonstrated before. Finally, we provide evidence for the biological consistency of our learned model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy Gaziv
- Dept. of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Roman Beliy
- Dept. of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Niv Granot
- Dept. of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Assaf Hoogi
- Dept. of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Tal Golan
- Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
| | - Michal Irani
- Dept. of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
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22
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Feng X, Monzalvo K, Dehaene S, Dehaene-Lambertz G. Evolution of reading and face circuits during the first three years of reading acquisition. Neuroimage 2022; 259:119394. [PMID: 35718022 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Although words and faces activate neighboring regions in the fusiform gyrus, we lack an understanding of how such category selectivity emerges during development. To investigate the organization of reading and face circuits at the earliest stage of reading acquisition, we measured the fMRI responses to words, faces, houses, and checkerboards in three groups of 60 French children: 6-year-old pre-readers, 6-year-old beginning readers and 9-year-old advanced readers. The results showed that specific responses to written words were absent prior to reading, but emerged in beginning readers, irrespective of age. Likewise, specific responses to faces were barely visible in pre-readers and continued to evolve in the 9-year-olds, yet primarily driven by age rather than by schooling. Crucially, the sectors of ventral visual cortex that become specialized for words and faces harbored their own functional connectivity prior to reading acquisition: the VWFA with left-hemispheric spoken language areas, and the FFA with the contralateral region and the amygdalae. The results support the view that reading acquisition occurs through the recycling of a pre-existing but plastic circuit which, in pre-readers, already connects the VWFA site to other distant language areas. We argue that reading acquisition does not compete with the face system directly, through a pruning of preexisting face responses, but indirectly, by hindering the slow growth of face responses in the left hemisphere, thus increasing a pre-existing right hemispheric bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxia Feng
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France
| | - Karla Monzalvo
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, Université PSL Paris Sciences Lettres, Paris, France
| | - Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CNRS ERL 9003, INSERM U992, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France.
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23
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van Ackooij M, Paul JM, van der Zwaag W, van der Stoep N, Harvey BM. Auditory timing-tuned neural responses in the human auditory cortices. Neuroimage 2022; 258:119366. [PMID: 35690255 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Perception of sub-second auditory event timing supports multisensory integration, and speech and music perception and production. Neural populations tuned for the timing (duration and rate) of visual events were recently described in several human extrastriate visual areas. Here we ask whether the brain also contains neural populations tuned for auditory event timing, and whether these are shared with visual timing. Using 7T fMRI, we measured responses to white noise bursts of changing duration and rate. We analyzed these responses using neural response models describing different parametric relationships between event timing and neural response amplitude. This revealed auditory timing-tuned responses in the primary auditory cortex, and auditory association areas of the belt, parabelt and premotor cortex. While these areas also showed tonotopic tuning for auditory pitch, pitch and timing preferences were not consistently correlated. Auditory timing-tuned response functions differed between these areas, though without clear hierarchical integration of responses. The similarity of auditory and visual timing tuned responses, together with the lack of overlap between the areas showing these responses for each modality, suggests modality-specific responses to event timing are computed similarly but from different sensory inputs, and then transformed differently to suit the needs of each modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martijn van Ackooij
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, Utrecht 3584 CS, the Netherlands
| | - Jacob M Paul
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, Utrecht 3584 CS, the Netherlands; Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Redmond Barry Building, Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Nathan van der Stoep
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, Utrecht 3584 CS, the Netherlands
| | - Ben M Harvey
- Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, Utrecht 3584 CS, the Netherlands.
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24
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Canas-Bajo T, Whitney D. Relative tuning of holistic face processing towards the fovea. Vision Res 2022; 197:108049. [PMID: 35461170 PMCID: PMC10101769 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2022.108049] [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: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Humans quickly detect and gaze at faces in the world, which reflects their importance in cognition and may lead to tuning of face recognition toward the central visual field. Although sometimes reported, foveal selectivity in face processing is debated: brain imaging studies have found evidence for a central field bias specific to faces, but behavioral studies have found little foveal selectivity in face recognition. These conflicting results are difficult to reconcile, but they could arise from stimulus-specific differences. Recent studies, for example, suggest that individual faces vary in the degree to which they require holistic processing. Holistic processing is the perception of faces as a whole rather than as a set of separate features. We hypothesized that the dissociation between behavioral and neuroimaging studies arises because of this stimulus-specific dependence on holistic processing. Specifically, the central bias found in neuroimaging studies may be specific to holistic processing. Here, we tested whether the eccentricity-dependence of face perception is determined by the degree to which faces require holistic processing. We first measured the holistic-ness of individual Mooney faces (two-tone shadow images readily perceived as faces). In a group of independent observers, we then used a gender discrimination task to measured recognition of these Mooney faces as a function of their eccentricity. Face gender was recognized across the visual field, even at substantial eccentricities, replicating prior work. Importantly, however, holistic face gender recognition was relatively tuned-slightly, but reliably stronger in the central visual field. Our results may reconcile the debate on the eccentricity-dependance of face perception and reveal a spatial inhomogeneity specifically in the holistic representations of faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Canas-Bajo
- Vision Science Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - David Whitney
- Vision Science Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Sedigh-Sarvestani M, Fitzpatrick D. What and Where: Location-Dependent Feature Sensitivity as a Canonical Organizing Principle of the Visual System. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:834876. [PMID: 35498372 PMCID: PMC9039279 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.834876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, functional representations in early visual areas are conceived as retinotopic maps preserving ego-centric spatial location information while ensuring that other stimulus features are uniformly represented for all locations in space. Recent results challenge this framework of relatively independent encoding of location and features in the early visual system, emphasizing location-dependent feature sensitivities that reflect specialization of cortical circuits for different locations in visual space. Here we review the evidence for such location-specific encoding including: (1) systematic variation of functional properties within conventional retinotopic maps in the cortex; (2) novel periodic retinotopic transforms that dramatically illustrate the tight linkage of feature sensitivity, spatial location, and cortical circuitry; and (3) retinotopic biases in cortical areas, and groups of areas, that have been defined by their functional specializations. We propose that location-dependent feature sensitivity is a fundamental organizing principle of the visual system that achieves efficient representation of positional regularities in visual experience, and reflects the evolutionary selection of sensory and motor circuits to optimally represent behaviorally relevant information. Future studies are necessary to discover mechanisms underlying joint encoding of location and functional information, how this relates to behavior, emerges during development, and varies across species.
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Keller AS, Jagadeesh AV, Bugatus L, Williams LM, Grill-Spector K. Attention enhances category representations across the brain with strengthened residual correlations to ventral temporal cortex. Neuroimage 2022; 249:118900. [PMID: 35021039 PMCID: PMC8947761 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
How does attention enhance neural representations of goal-relevant stimuli while suppressing representations of ignored stimuli across regions of the brain? While prior studies have shown that attention enhances visual responses, we lack a cohesive understanding of how selective attention modulates visual representations across the brain. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants performed a selective attention task on superimposed stimuli from multiple categories and used a data-driven approach to test how attention affects both decodability of category information and residual correlations (after regressing out stimulus-driven variance) with category-selective regions of ventral temporal cortex (VTC). Our data reveal three main findings. First, when two objects are simultaneously viewed, the category of the attended object can be decoded more readily than the category of the ignored object, with the greatest attentional enhancements observed in occipital and temporal lobes. Second, after accounting for the response to the stimulus, the correlation in the residual brain activity between a cortical region and a category-selective region of VTC was elevated when that region’s preferred category was attended vs. ignored, and more so in the right occipital, parietal, and frontal cortices. Third, we found that the stronger the residual correlations between a given region of cortex and VTC, the better visual category information could be decoded from that region. These findings suggest that heightened residual correlations by selective attention may reflect the sharing of information between sensory regions and higher-order cortical regions to provide attentional enhancement of goal-relevant information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arielle S Keller
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA; Neurosciences Graduate Program, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA.
| | | | - Lior Bugatus
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
| | - Leanne M Williams
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
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27
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Nordt M, Gomez J, Natu VS, Rezai AA, Finzi D, Kular H, Grill-Spector K. Cortical recycling in high-level visual cortex during childhood development. Nat Hum Behav 2021; 5:1686-1697. [PMID: 34140657 PMCID: PMC8678383 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01141-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Human ventral temporal cortex contains category-selective regions that respond preferentially to ecologically relevant categories such as faces, bodies, places and words and that are causally involved in the perception of these categories. How do these regions develop during childhood? We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure longitudinal development of category selectivity in school-age children over 1 to 5 years. We discovered that, from young childhood to the teens, face- and word-selective regions in ventral temporal cortex expand and become more category selective, but limb-selective regions shrink and lose their preference for limbs. Critically, as a child develops, increases in face and word selectivity are directly linked to decreases in limb selectivity, revealing that during childhood, limb selectivity in ventral temporal cortex is repurposed into word and face selectivity. These data provide evidence for cortical recycling during childhood development. This has important implications for understanding typical as well as atypical brain development and necessitates a rethinking of how cortical function develops during childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa Nordt
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Vaidehi S Natu
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alex A Rezai
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Dawn Finzi
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Holly Kular
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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28
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Groen IIA, Dekker TM, Knapen T, Silson EH. Visuospatial coding as ubiquitous scaffolding for human cognition. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 26:81-96. [PMID: 34799253 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
For more than 100 years we have known that the visual field is mapped onto the surface of visual cortex, imposing an inherently spatial reference frame on visual information processing. Recent studies highlight visuospatial coding not only throughout visual cortex, but also brain areas not typically considered visual. Such widespread access to visuospatial coding raises important questions about its role in wider cognitive functioning. Here, we synthesise these recent developments and propose that visuospatial coding scaffolds human cognition by providing a reference frame through which neural computations interface with environmental statistics and task demands via perception-action loops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris I A Groen
- Institute for Informatics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tessa M Dekker
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Tomas Knapen
- Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Spinoza Centre for NeuroImaging, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Edward H Silson
- Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
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29
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Bhat S, Lührs M, Goebel R, Senden M. Extremely fast pRF mapping for real-time applications. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118671. [PMID: 34710584 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Revised: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Population receptive field (pRF) mapping is a popular tool in computational neuroimaging that allows for the investigation of receptive field properties, their topography and interrelations in health and disease. Furthermore, the possibility to invert population receptive fields provides a decoding model for constructing stimuli from observed cortical activation patterns. This has been suggested to pave the road towards pRF-based brain-computer interface (BCI) communication systems, which would be able to directly decode internally visualized letters from topographically organized brain activity. A major stumbling block for such an application is, however, that the pRF mapping procedure is computationally heavy and time consuming. To address this, we propose a novel and fast pRF mapping procedure that is suitable for real-time applications. The method is built upon hashed-Gaussian encoding of the stimulus, which tremendously reduces computational resources. After the stimulus is encoded, mapping can be performed using either ridge regression for fast offline analyses or gradient descent for real-time applications. We validate our model-agnostic approach in silico, as well as on empirical fMRI data obtained from 3T and 7T MRI scanners. Our approach is capable of estimating receptive fields and their parameters for millions of voxels in mere seconds. This method thus facilitates real-time applications of population receptive field mapping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salil Bhat
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Michael Lührs
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Research and Development, Brain Innovation B.V., Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Research and Development, Brain Innovation B.V., Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Neuroimaging and Neuromodeling, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Mario Senden
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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30
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Natu VS, Rosenke M, Wu H, Querdasi FR, Kular H, Lopez-Alvarez N, Grotheer M, Berman S, Mezer AA, Grill-Spector K. Infants' cortex undergoes microstructural growth coupled with myelination during development. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1191. [PMID: 34650227 PMCID: PMC8516989 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02706-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Development of cortical tissue during infancy is critical for the emergence of typical brain functions in cortex. However, how cortical microstructure develops during infancy remains unknown. We measured the longitudinal development of cortex from birth to six months of age using multimodal quantitative imaging of cortical microstructure. Here we show that infants' cortex undergoes profound microstructural tissue growth during the first six months of human life. Comparison of postnatal to prenatal transcriptomic gene expression data demonstrates that myelination and synaptic processes are dominant contributors to this postnatal microstructural tissue growth. Using visual cortex as a model system, we find hierarchical microstructural growth: higher-level visual areas have less mature tissue at birth than earlier visual areas but grow at faster rates. This overturns the prominent view that visual areas that are most mature at birth develop fastest. Together, in vivo, longitudinal, and quantitative measurements, which we validated with ex vivo transcriptomic data, shed light on the rate, sequence, and biological mechanisms of developing cortical systems during early infancy. Importantly, our findings propose a hypothesis that cortical myelination is a key factor in cortical development during early infancy, which has important implications for diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders and delays in infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaidehi S. Natu
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Mona Rosenke
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Hua Wu
- Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Francesca R. Querdasi
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA ,grid.19006.3e0000 0000 9632 6718Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
| | - Holly Kular
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Nancy Lopez-Alvarez
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Mareike Grotheer
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA ,grid.10253.350000 0004 1936 9756Department of Psychology, University of Marburg, Marburg, 35039 Germany ,grid.513205.0Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior – CMBB, Philipps-Universität Marburg and Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Marburg, 35039 Germany
| | - Shai Berman
- grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904 Israel
| | - Aviv A. Mezer
- grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904 Israel
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. .,Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. .,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
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31
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The relationship between transcription and eccentricity in human V1. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2807-2818. [PMID: 34618233 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02387-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Gene expression gradients radiating from regions of primary sensory cortices have recently been described and are thought to underlie the large-scale organization of the human cerebral cortex. However, the role of transcription in the functional layout of a single region within the adult brain has yet to be clarified, likely owing to the difficulty of identifying a brain region anatomically consistent enough across individuals with dense enough tissue sampling. Overcoming these hurdles in human primary visual cortex (V1), we show a relationship between differential gene expression and the cortical layout of eccentricity in human V1. Interestingly, these genes are unique from those previously identified that contribute to the positioning of cortical areas in the visual processing hierarchy. Enrichment analyses show that a subset of the identified genes encode for structures related to inhibitory interneurons, ion channels, as well as cellular projections, and are expressed more in foveal compared to peripheral portions of human V1. These findings predict that tissue density should be higher in foveal compared to peripheral V1. Using a histological pipeline, we validate this prediction using Nissl-stained sections of postmortem occipital cortex. We discuss these findings relative to previous studies in non-human primates, as well as in the context of an organizational pattern in which the adult human brain employs transcription gradients at multiple spatial scales: across the cerebral cortex, across areas within processing hierarchies, and within single cortical areas.
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32
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Poltoratski S, Kay K, Finzi D, Grill-Spector K. Holistic face recognition is an emergent phenomenon of spatial processing in face-selective regions. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4745. [PMID: 34362883 PMCID: PMC8346587 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24806-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial processing by receptive fields is a core property of the visual system. However, it is unknown how spatial processing in high-level regions contributes to recognition behavior. As face inversion is thought to disrupt typical holistic processing of information in faces, we mapped population receptive fields (pRFs) with upright and inverted faces in the human visual system. Here we show that in face-selective regions, but not primary visual cortex, pRFs and overall visual field coverage are smaller and shifted downward in response to face inversion. From these measurements, we successfully predict the relative behavioral detriment of face inversion at different positions in the visual field. This correspondence between neural measurements and behavior demonstrates how spatial processing in face-selective regions may enable holistic perception. These results not only show that spatial processing in high-level visual regions is dynamically used towards recognition, but also suggest a powerful approach for bridging neural computations by receptive fields to behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kendrick Kay
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Dawn Finzi
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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33
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Boring MJ, Silson EH, Ward MJ, Richardson RM, Fiez JA, Baker CI, Ghuman AS. Multiple Adjoining Word- and Face-Selective Regions in Ventral Temporal Cortex Exhibit Distinct Dynamics. J Neurosci 2021; 41:6314-6327. [PMID: 34099511 PMCID: PMC8287994 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3234-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The map of category-selectivity in human ventral temporal cortex (VTC) provides organizational constraints to models of object recognition. One important principle is lateral-medial response biases to stimuli that are typically viewed in the center or periphery of the visual field. However, little is known about the relative temporal dynamics and location of regions that respond preferentially to stimulus classes that are centrally viewed, such as the face- and word-processing networks. Here, word- and face-selective regions within VTC were mapped using intracranial recordings from 36 patients. Partially overlapping, but also anatomically dissociable patches of face- and word-selectivity, were found in VTC. In addition to canonical word-selective regions along the left posterior occipitotemporal sulcus, selectivity was also located medial and anterior to face-selective regions on the fusiform gyrus at the group level and within individual male and female subjects. These regions were replicated using 7 Tesla fMRI in healthy subjects. Left hemisphere word-selective regions preceded right hemisphere responses by 125 ms, potentially reflecting the left hemisphere bias for language, with no hemispheric difference in face-selective response latency. Word-selective regions along the posterior fusiform responded first, then spread medially and laterally, then anteriorally. Face-selective responses were first seen in posterior fusiform regions bilaterally, then proceeded anteriorally from there. For both words and faces, the relative delay between regions was longer than would be predicted by purely feedforward models of visual processing. The distinct time courses of responses across these regions, and between hemispheres, suggest that a complex and dynamic functional circuit supports face and word perception.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Representations of visual objects in the human brain have been shown to be organized by several principles, including whether those objects tend to be viewed centrally or peripherally in the visual field. However, it remains unclear how regions that process objects that are viewed centrally, such as words and faces, are organized relative to one another. Here, invasive and noninvasive neuroimaging suggests that there is a mosaic of regions in ventral temporal cortex that respond selectively to either words or faces. These regions display differences in the strength and timing of their responses, both within and between brain hemispheres, suggesting that they play different roles in perception. These results illuminate extended, bilateral, and dynamic brain pathways that support face perception and reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Boring
- Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
| | - Edward H Silson
- National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Magnuson Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
- School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J Ward
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
| | - R Mark Richardson
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
- Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02144
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
| | - Julie A Fiez
- Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
| | - Chris I Baker
- National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Magnuson Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
| | - Avniel Singh Ghuman
- Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
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34
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Retinotopic organization of visual cortex in human infants. Neuron 2021; 109:2616-2626.e6. [PMID: 34228960 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Vision develops rapidly during infancy, yet how visual cortex is organized during this period is unclear. In particular, it is unknown whether functional maps that organize the mature adult visual cortex are present in the infant striate and extrastriate cortex. Here, we test the functional maturity of infant visual cortex by performing retinotopic mapping with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Infants aged 5-23 months had retinotopic maps, with alternating preferences for vertical and horizontal meridians indicating the boundaries of visual areas V1 to V4 and an orthogonal gradient of preferences from high to low spatial frequencies. The presence of multiple visual maps throughout visual cortex in infants indicates a greater maturity of extrastriate cortex than previously appreciated. The areas showed subtle age-related fine-tuning, suggesting that early maturation undergoes continued refinement. This early maturation of area boundaries and tuning may scaffold subsequent developmental changes.
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Abstract
The scientific study of reading has a rich history that spans disciplines from vision science to linguistics, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, neurology, and education. The study of reading can elucidate important general mechanisms in spatial vision, attentional control, object recognition, and perceptual learning, as well as the principles of plasticity and cortical topography. However, literacy also prompts the development of specific neural circuits to process a unique and artificial stimulus. In this review, we describe the sequence of operations that transforms visual features into language, how the key neural circuits are sculpted by experience during development, and what goes awry in children for whom learning to read is a struggle. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 7 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason D Yeatman
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California 93405, USA; .,Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.,Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
| | - Alex L White
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California 93405, USA; .,Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.,Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College, New York, New York 10027, USA
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36
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de Haas B, Sereno MI, Schwarzkopf DS. Inferior Occipital Gyrus Is Organized along Common Gradients of Spatial and Face-Part Selectivity. J Neurosci 2021; 41:5511-5521. [PMID: 34016715 PMCID: PMC8221599 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2415-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventral visual stream of the human brain is subdivided into patches with categorical stimulus preferences, like faces or scenes. However, the functional organization within these areas is less clear. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and vertex-wise tuning models to independently probe spatial and face-part preferences in the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) of healthy adult males and females. The majority of responses were well explained by Gaussian population tuning curves for both retinotopic location and the preferred relative position within a face. Parameter maps revealed a common gradient of spatial and face-part selectivity, with the width of tuning curves drastically increasing from posterior to anterior IOG. Tuning peaks clustered more idiosyncratically but were also correlated across maps of visual and face space. Preferences for the upper visual field went along with significantly increased coverage of the upper half of the face, matching recently discovered biases in human perception. Our findings reveal a broad range of neural face-part selectivity in IOG, ranging from narrow to "holistic." IOG is functionally organized along this gradient, which in turn is correlated with retinotopy.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Brain imaging has revealed a lot about the large-scale organization of the human brain and visual system. For example, occipital cortex contains map-like representations of the visual field, while neurons in ventral areas cluster into patches with categorical preferences, like faces or scenes. Much less is known about the functional organization within these areas. Here, we focused on a well established face-preferring area-the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG). A novel neuroimaging paradigm allowed us to map the retinotopic and face-part tuning of many recording sites in IOG independently. We found a steep posterior-anterior gradient of decreasing face-part selectivity, which correlated with retinotopy. This suggests the functional role of ventral areas is not uniform and may follow retinotopic "protomaps."
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin de Haas
- Department of Psychology, Justus Liebig Universität, 35394 Giessen, Germany
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Martin I Sereno
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
- SDSU Imaging Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182
| | - D Samuel Schwarzkopf
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
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37
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Wiring of higher-order cortical areas: Spatiotemporal development of cortical hierarchy. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2021; 118:35-49. [PMID: 34034988 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2021.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
A hierarchical development of cortical areas was suggested over a century ago, but the diversity and complexity of cortical hierarchy properties have so far prevented a formal demonstration. The aim of this review is to clarify the similarities and differences in the developmental processes underlying cortical development of primary and higher-order areas. We start by recapitulating the historical and recent advances underlying the biological principle of cortical hierarchy in adults. We then revisit the arguments for a hierarchical maturation of cortical areas, and further integrate the principles of cortical areas specification during embryonic and postnatal development. We highlight how the dramatic expansion in cortical size might have contributed to the increased number of association areas sustaining cognitive complexification in evolution. Finally, we summarize the recent observations of an alteration of cortical hierarchy in neuropsychiatric disorders and discuss their potential developmental origins.
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38
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Avidan G, Behrmann M. Spatial Integration in Normal Face Processing and Its Breakdown in Congenital Prosopagnosia. Annu Rev Vis Sci 2021; 7:301-321. [PMID: 34014762 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-113020-012740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Congenital prosopagnosia (CP), a life-long impairment in face processing that occurs in the absence of any apparent brain damage, provides a unique model in which to explore the psychological and neural bases of normal face processing. The goal of this review is to offer a theoretical and conceptual framework that may account for the underlying cognitive and neural deficits in CP. This framework may also provide a novel perspective in which to reconcile some conflicting results that permits the expansion of the research in this field in new directions. The crux of this framework lies in linking the known behavioral and neural underpinnings of face processing and their impairments in CP to a model incorporating grid cell-like activity in the entorhinal cortex. Moreover, it stresses the involvement of active, spatial scanning of the environment with eye movements and implicates their critical role in face encoding and recognition. To begin with, we describe the main behavioral and neural characteristics of CP, and then lay down the building blocks of our proposed model, referring to the existing literature supporting this new framework. We then propose testable predictions and conclude with open questions for future research stemming from this model. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 7 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galia Avidan
- Department of Psychology and Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel;
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
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39
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Pujol J, Blanco-Hinojo L, Macia D, Martínez-Vilavella G, Deus J, Pérez-Sola V, Cardoner N, Soriano-Mas C, Sunyer J. Differences between the child and adult brain in the local functional structure of the cerebral cortex. Neuroimage 2021; 237:118150. [PMID: 33984493 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Revised: 05/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Imaging studies on neuronal network formation provide relevant information as to how the brain matures during adolescence. We used a novel imaging approach combining well-established MRI measures of local functional connectivity that jointly provide qualitatively different information relating to the functional structure of the cerebral cortex. To investigate the adolescent transition into adulthood, we comparatively assessed 169 preadolescents aged 8-12 years and 121 healthy adults. Whole-brain functional connectivity maps were generated using multi-distance measures of intracortical neural activity coupling defined within iso-distant local areas. Such Iso-Distant Average Correlation (IDAC) measures therefore represent the average temporal correlation of a given brain unit, or voxel, with other units situated at increasingly separated iso-distant intervals. The results indicated that between-group differences in the functional structure of the cerebral cortex are extensive and implicate part of the lateral prefrontal cortex, a medial frontal/anterior cingulate region, the superior parietal lobe extending to the somatosensory strip and posterior cingulate cortex, and local connections within the visual cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and insula. We thus provided detail of the cerebral cortex functional structure maturation during the transition to adulthood, which may serve to establish more accurate links between adolescent performance gains and cerebral cortex maturation. Remarkably, our study provides new information as to the cortical maturation processes in prefrontal areas relevant to executive functioning and rational learning, medial frontal areas playing an active role in the cognitive appraisal of emotion and anxiety, and superior parietal cortices strongly associated with bodily self-consciousness in the context of body image formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesus Pujol
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Laura Blanco-Hinojo
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Didac Macia
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gerard Martínez-Vilavella
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Deus
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Marítim 25-29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
| | - Víctor Pérez-Sola
- Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Addictions, Hospital del Mar-IMIM, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Narcís Cardoner
- Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain; Mental Health Department, Parc Taulí Sabadell University Hospital, Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carles Soriano-Mas
- Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Spain; Department of Psychobiology and Methodology in Health Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Sunyer
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Ciber on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
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40
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Kim NY, Pinsk MA, Kastner S. Neural Basis of Biased Competition in Development: Sensory Competition in Visual Cortex of School-Aged Children. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:3107-3121. [PMID: 33565579 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The fundamental receptive field (RF) architecture in human visual cortex becomes adult-like by age 5. However, visuo-spatial functions continue to develop until teenage years. This suggests that, despite the early maturation of the RF structure, functional interactions within and across RFs may mature slowly. Here, we used fMRI to investigate functional interactions among multiple stimuli in the visual cortex of school children (ages 8 to 12) in the context of biased competition theory. In the adult visual system, multiple objects presented in the same visual field compete for neural representation. These competitive interactions occur at the level of the RF and are therefore closely linked to the RF architecture. Like in adults, we found suppression of evoked responses in children's visual cortex when multiple stimuli were presented simultaneously. Such suppression effects were modulated by the spatial distance between the stimuli as a function of RF size across the visual system. Our findings suggest that basic competitive interactions in the visual cortex of children above age 8 operate in an adult-like manner, with subtle differences in early visual areas and area MT. Our study establishes a paradigm and provides baseline data to investigate the neural basis of visuo-spatial processing in typical and atypical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Yeon Kim
- Department of Psychology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.,Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Mark A Pinsk
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Sabine Kastner
- Department of Psychology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.,Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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41
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Finzi D, Gomez J, Nordt M, Rezai AA, Poltoratski S, Grill-Spector K. Differential spatial computations in ventral and lateral face-selective regions are scaffolded by structural connections. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2278. [PMID: 33859195 PMCID: PMC8050273 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22524-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Face-processing occurs across ventral and lateral visual streams, which are involved in static and dynamic face perception, respectively. However, the nature of spatial computations across streams is unknown. Using functional MRI and population receptive field (pRF) mapping, we measured pRFs in face-selective regions. Results reveal that spatial computations by pRFs in ventral face-selective regions are concentrated around the center of gaze (fovea), but spatial computations in lateral face-selective regions extend peripherally. Diffusion MRI reveals that these differences are mirrored by a preponderance of white matter connections between ventral face-selective regions and foveal early visual cortex (EVC), while connections with lateral regions are distributed more uniformly across EVC eccentricities. These findings suggest a rethinking of spatial computations in face-selective regions, showing that they vary across ventral and lateral streams, and further propose that spatial computations in high-level regions are scaffolded by the fine-grain pattern of white matter connections from EVC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawn Finzi
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Marisa Nordt
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alex A Rezai
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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42
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Jüttner M, Strasburger H, Treutwein B, Landis T, Rentschler I. Complementary deficits in perceptual classification in pure alexia and acquired prosopagnosia - New insights from two classic cases. Neuropsychologia 2021; 155:107820. [PMID: 33676958 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Pure alexia and prosopagnosia traditionally have been seen as prime examples of dissociated, category-specific agnosias affecting reading and face recognition, respectively. More recent accounts have moved towards domain-independent explanations that postulate potential cross-links between different types of visual agnosia. According to one proposal, abnormal crowding, i.e. the impairment of recognition when features of adjacent objects are positioned too closely to each other, might provide a unified account for the perceptual deficits experienced by an agnosic patient. An alternative approach is based on the notion of complementary visual subsystems favouring the processing of abstract categories and specific exemplars, respectively. To test predictions of these two approaches with regard to pure alexia and prosopagnosia, we present previously unpublished data on digit recognition and visual crowding from two in the neuropsychological literature extensively studied patients, KD and MT (e.g., Campbell et al., 1986; Landis and Regard, 1988; Rentschler et al., 1994). Patient MT, diagnosed with pure alexia, showed pronounced abnormal foveal crowding, whereas KD, diagnosed with prosopagnosia, did not. These results form a distinct double dissociation with the performance of the two patients in other perceptual classification tasks involving Gabor micropatterns and textures, as well as Glass patterns, which revealed a significantly greater impairment in KD relative to MT. Based on an analysis of the specific task demands we argue that prosopagnosia and pure alexia may involve complementary deficits in instantiation and abstraction, respectively, during perceptual classification, beyond any category specificity. Such an explanation appears in line with previous distinctions between a predominantly left-hemispheric, abstract-category and a predominantly right-hemispheric, specific-exemplar subsystem underlying object recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Jüttner
- School of Psychology, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.
| | | | | | | | - Ingo Rentschler
- Institute of Medical Psychology, University of Munich, Germany
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43
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Arcaro MJ, Mautz T, Berezovskii VK, Livingstone MS. Anatomical correlates of face patches in macaque inferotemporal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:32667-32678. [PMID: 33277435 PMCID: PMC7768718 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018780117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Primate brains typically have regions within the ventral visual stream that are selectively responsive to faces. In macaques, these face patches are located in similar parts of inferotemporal cortex across individuals although correspondence with particular anatomical features has not been reported previously. Here, using high-resolution functional and anatomical imaging, we show that small "bumps," or buried gyri, along the lower bank of the superior temporal sulcus are predictive of the location of face-selective regions. Recordings from implanted multielectrode arrays verified that these bumps contain face-selective neurons. These bumps were present in monkeys raised without seeing faces and that lack face patches, indicating that these anatomical landmarks are predictive of, but not sufficient for, the presence of face selectivity. These bumps are found across primate species that span taxonomy lines, indicating common evolutionary developmental mechanisms. The bumps emerge during fetal development in macaques, indicating that they arise from general developmental mechanisms that result in the regularity of cortical folding of the entire brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Arcaro
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
| | - Theodora Mautz
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
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44
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Yin Q, Johnson EL, Tang L, Auguste KI, Knight RT, Asano E, Ofen N. Direct brain recordings reveal occipital cortex involvement in memory development. Neuropsychologia 2020; 148:107625. [PMID: 32941883 PMCID: PMC7704894 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2020] [Revised: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Processing of low-level visual information shows robust developmental gains through childhood and adolescence. However, it is unknown whether low-level visual processing in the occipital cortex supports age-related gains in memory for complex visual stimuli. Here, we examined occipital alpha activity during visual scene encoding in 24 children and adolescents, aged 6.2-20.5 years, who performed a subsequent memory task while undergoing electrocorticographic recording. Scenes were classified as high- or low-complexity by the number of unique object categories depicted. We found that recognition of high-complexity, but not low-complexity, scenes increased with age. Age was associated with decreased alpha power and increased instantaneous alpha frequency during the encoding of subsequently recognized high- compared to low-complexity scenes. Critically, decreased alpha power predicted improved recognition of high-complexity scenes in adolescents. These findings demonstrate how the functional maturation of the occipital cortex supports the development of memory for complex visual scenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Yin
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Elizabeth L Johnson
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Lingfei Tang
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Kurtis I Auguste
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, Division of Neurological Surgery, Children's Hospital and Research Center, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Robert T Knight
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Eishi Asano
- Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Noa Ofen
- Life-Span Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Institute of Gerontology and Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
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45
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Nordt M, Gomez J, Natu V, Jeska B, Barnett M, Grill-Spector K. Learning to Read Increases the Informativeness of Distributed Ventral Temporal Responses. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3124-3139. [PMID: 30169753 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Becoming a proficient reader requires substantial learning over many years. However, it is unknown how learning to read affects development of distributed visual representations across human ventral temporal cortex (VTC). Using fMRI and a data-driven, computational approach, we quantified the development of distributed VTC responses to characters (pseudowords and numbers) versus other domains in children, preteens, and adults. Results reveal anatomical- and hemisphere-specific development. With development, distributed responses to words and characters became more distinctive and informative in lateral but not medial VTC, and in the left but not right hemisphere. While the development of voxels with both positive and negative preference to words affected distributed information, only development of voxels with positive preference to words (i.e., word-selective) was correlated with reading ability. These data show that developmental increases in informativeness of distributed left lateral VTC responses are related to proficient reading and have important implications for both developmental theories and for elucidating neural mechanisms of reading disabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa Nordt
- Department of Developmental Neuropsychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Vaidehi Natu
- Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Brianna Jeska
- Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Michael Barnett
- Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Neurosciences Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.,Psychology Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Stanford Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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46
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Natu VS, Arcaro MJ, Barnett MA, Gomez J, Livingstone M, Grill-Spector K, Weiner KS. Sulcal Depth in the Medial Ventral Temporal Cortex Predicts the Location of a Place-Selective Region in Macaques, Children, and Adults. Cereb Cortex 2020; 31:48-61. [PMID: 32954410 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Revised: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution and development of anatomical-functional relationships in the cerebral cortex is of major interest in neuroscience. Here, we leveraged the fact that a functional region selective for visual scenes is located within a sulcus in the medial ventral temporal cortex (VTC) in both humans and macaques to examine the relationship between sulcal depth and place selectivity in the medial VTC across species and age groups. To do so, we acquired anatomical and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans in 9 macaques, 26 human children, and 28 human adults. Our results revealed a strong structural-functional coupling between sulcal depth and place selectivity across age groups and species in which selectivity was strongest near the deepest sulcal point (the sulcal pit). Interestingly, this coupling between sulcal depth and place selectivity strengthens from childhood to adulthood in humans. Morphological analyses suggest that the stabilization of sulcal-functional coupling in adulthood may be due to sulcal deepening and areal expansion with age as well as developmental differences in cortical curvature at the pial, but not the white matter surfaces. Our results implicate sulcal features as functional landmarks in high-level visual cortex and highlight that sulcal-functional relationships in the medial VTC are preserved between macaques and humans despite differences in cortical folding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaidehi S Natu
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Michael J Arcaro
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Michael A Barnett
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jesse Gomez
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | | | - Kalanit Grill-Spector
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Kevin S Weiner
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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47
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Park WJ, Fine I. New insights into cortical development and plasticity: from molecules to behavior. CURRENT OPINION IN PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 16:50-60. [PMID: 32923755 PMCID: PMC7480792 DOI: 10.1016/j.cophys.2020.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The human brain contains 100 billion neurons, and each neuron can have up to 200,000 connections to other neurons. Recent advancements in neuroscience-ranging from molecular studies in animal models to behavioral studies in humans-have given us deeper insights into the development of this extraordinarily intricate system. Studies show a complex interaction between biological predispositions and environment; while the gross neuroanatomy and low-level functions develop early prior to receiving environmental inputs, functional selectivity is shaped through experience, governed by the maturation of local excitatory and inhibitory circuits and synaptic plasticity during sensitive periods early in development. Plasticity does not end with the closing of the early sensitive period - the environment continues to play an important role in learning throughout the lifespan. Recent work delineating the cascade of events that initiates, controls and ends sensitive periods, offers new hope of eventually being able to remediate various clinical conditions by selectively reopening plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Woon Ju Park
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Ione Fine
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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48
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Wilcockson TD, Burns EJ, Xia B, Tree J, Crawford TJ. Atypically heterogeneous vertical first fixations to faces in a case series of people with developmental prosopagnosia. VISUAL COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2020.1797968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas D.W. Wilcockson
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
- Psychology Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | | | - Baiqiang Xia
- Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Jeremy Tree
- Psychology Department, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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49
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Behrmann M, Plaut DC. Hemispheric Organization for Visual Object Recognition: A Theoretical Account and Empirical Evidence. Perception 2020; 49:373-404. [PMID: 31980013 PMCID: PMC9944149 DOI: 10.1177/0301006619899049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Despite the similarity in structure, the hemispheres of the human brain have somewhat different functions. A traditional view of hemispheric organization asserts that there are independent and largely lateralized domain-specific regions in ventral occipitotemporal (VOTC), specialized for the recognition of distinct classes of objects. Here, we offer an alternative account of the organization of the hemispheres, with a specific focus on face and word recognition. This alternative account relies on three computational principles: distributed representations and knowledge, cooperation and competition between representations, and topography and proximity. The crux is that visual recognition results from a network of regions with graded functional specialization that is distributed across both hemispheres. Specifically, the claim is that face recognition, which is acquired relatively early in life, is processed by VOTC regions in both hemispheres. Once literacy is acquired, word recognition, which is co-lateralized with language areas, primarily engages the left VOTC and, consequently, face recognition is primarily, albeit not exclusively, mediated by the right VOTC. We review psychological and neural evidence from a range of studies conducted with normal and brain-damaged adults and children and consider findings which challenge this account. Last, we offer suggestions for future investigations whose findings may further refine this account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - David C. Plaut
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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50
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Connectivity at the origins of domain specificity in the cortical face and place networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:6163-6169. [PMID: 32123077 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911359117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well established that the adult brain contains a mosaic of domain-specific networks. But how do these domain-specific networks develop? Here we tested the hypothesis that the brain comes prewired with connections that precede the development of domain-specific function. Using resting-state fMRI in the youngest sample of newborn humans tested to date, we indeed found that cortical networks that will later develop strong face selectivity (including the "proto" occipital face area and fusiform face area) and scene selectivity (including the "proto" parahippocampal place area and retrosplenial complex) by adulthood, already show domain-specific patterns of functional connectivity as early as 27 d of age (beginning as early as 6 d of age). Furthermore, we asked how these networks are functionally connected to early visual cortex and found that the proto face network shows biased functional connectivity with foveal V1, while the proto scene network shows biased functional connectivity with peripheral V1. Given that faces are almost always experienced at the fovea, while scenes always extend across the entire periphery, these differential inputs may serve to facilitate domain-specific processing in each network after that function develops, or even guide the development of domain-specific function in each network in the first place. Taken together, these findings reveal domain-specific and eccentricity-biased connectivity in the earliest days of life, placing new constraints on our understanding of the origins of domain-specific cortical networks.
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