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Hua L, Gao F, Leong C, Yuan Z. Neural decoding dissociates perceptual grouping between proximity and similarity in visual perception. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:3803-3815. [PMID: 35973163 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac308] [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: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Unlike single grouping principle, cognitive neural mechanism underlying the dissociation across two or more grouping principles is still unclear. In this study, a dimotif lattice paradigm that can adjust the strength of one grouping principle was used to inspect how, when, and where the processing of two grouping principles (proximity and similarity) were carried out in human brain. Our psychophysical findings demonstrated that similarity grouping effect was enhanced with reduced proximity effect when the grouping cues of proximity and similarity were presented simultaneously. Meanwhile, EEG decoding was performed to reveal the specific cognitive patterns involved in each principle by using time-resolved MVPA. More importantly, the onsets of dissociation between 2 grouping principles coincided within 3 time windows: the early-stage proximity-defined local visual element arrangement in middle occipital cortex, the middle-stage processing for feature selection modulating low-level visual cortex such as inferior occipital cortex and fusiform cortex, and the high-level cognitive integration to make decisions for specific grouping preference in the parietal areas. In addition, it was discovered that the brain responses were highly correlated with behavioral grouping. Therefore, our study provides direct evidence for a link between the human perceptual space of grouping decision-making and neural space of brain activation patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Hua
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, N21 Research Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.,Faculty of Health Sciences, E12 Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China
| | - Fei Gao
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, N21 Research Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China
| | - Chantat Leong
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, N21 Research Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.,Faculty of Health Sciences, E12 Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China
| | - Zhen Yuan
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, N21 Research Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China.,Faculty of Health Sciences, E12 Building, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR 999078, China
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Wilding M, Körner C, Ischebeck A, Zaretskaya N. Increased insula activity precedes the formation of subjective illusory Gestalt. Neuroimage 2022; 257:119289. [PMID: 35537599 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119289] [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: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 03/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The constructive nature of human perception sometimes leads us to perceiving rather complex impressions from simple sensory input: for example, recognizing animal contours in cloud formations or seeing living creatures in shadows of objects. A special type of bistable stimuli gives us a rare opportunity to study the neural mechanisms behind this process. Such stimuli can be visually interpreted either as simple or as more complex illusory content on the basis of the same sensory input. Previous studies demonstrated increased activity in the superior parietal cortex during the perception of an illusory Gestalt impression compared to a simpler interpretation. Here, we examined the role of slow fluctuations of resting-state fMRI activity in shaping the subsequent illusory interpretation by investigating activity related to the illusory Gestalt not only during, but also prior to its perception. We presented 31 participants with a bistable motion stimulus, which can be perceived either as four moving dot pairs (local) or two moving illusory squares (global). fMRI was used to measure brain activity in a slow event-related design. We observed stronger IPS and putamen responses to the stimulus when participants perceived the global interpretation compared to the local, confirming the findings of previous studies. Most importantly, we also observed that the global stimulus interpretation was preceded by an increased activity of the bilateral dorsal insula, which is known to process saliency and gate information for conscious access. Our data suggest an important role of the dorsal insula in shaping complex illusory interpretations of the sensory input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilena Wilding
- Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria.
| | - Christof Körner
- Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Anja Ischebeck
- Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Natalia Zaretskaya
- Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria.
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Lõoke M, Marinelli L, Guérineau C, Agrillo C, Mongillo P. Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are susceptible to the Kanizsa's triangle illusion. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:43-51. [PMID: 34269930 PMCID: PMC8904331 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01533-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The ability to complete partially missing contours is widespread across the animal kingdom, but whether this extends to dogs is still unknown. To address this gap in knowledge, we assessed dogs' susceptibility to one of the most common contour illusions, the Kanizsa's triangle. Six dogs were trained to discriminate a triangle from other geometrical figures using a two-alternative conditioned discrimination task. Once the learning criterion was reached, dogs were presented with the Kanizsa's triangle and a control stimulus, where inducers were rotated around their centre, so as to disrupt what would be perceived as a triangle by a human observer. As a group, dogs chose the illusory triangle significantly more often than control stimuli. At the individual level, susceptibility to the illusion was shown by five out of six dogs. This is the first study where dogs as a group show susceptibility to a visual illusion in the same manner as humans. Moreover, the analyses revealed a negative effect of age on susceptibility, an effect that was also found in humans. Altogether, this suggests that the underling perceptual mechanisms are similar between dogs and humans, and in sharp contrast with other categories of visual illusions to which the susceptibility of dogs has been previously assessed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miina Lõoke
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Piazzetta del Donatore, 4, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Lieta Marinelli
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Piazzetta del Donatore, 4, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
| | - Cécile Guérineau
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Piazzetta del Donatore, 4, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Christian Agrillo
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, 35131, Padua, Italy.,Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Paolo Mongillo
- Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Piazzetta del Donatore, 4, 35020, Legnaro, Italy
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