An inferotemporal coding strategy robust to partial object occlusion.

Object coding in primate ventral pathway cortex progresses in sparseness/compression/efficiency, from many orientation signals in V1, to fewer 2D/3D part signals in V4, to still fewer multi-part configuration signals in AIT (anterior inferotemporal cortex). This progression could lead to individual neurons exclusively selective for unique objects, the sparsest code for identity, especially for highly familiar, important objects. To test this, we trained macaque monkeys to discriminate 8 simple letter-like shapes in a match-to-sample task, a design in which one-to-one coding of letters by neurons could streamline behavior.

Object representation in a gravitational reference frame.

When your head tilts laterally, as in sports, reaching, and resting, your eyes counterrotate less than 20%, and thus eye images rotate, over a total range of about 180°. Yet, the world appears stable and vision remains normal. We discovered a neural strategy for rotational stability in anterior inferotemporal cortex (IT), the final stage of object vision in primates.

Multi-finger receptive field properties in primary somatosensory cortex: A revised account of the spatiotemporal integration functions of area 3b.

The leading view in the somatosensory system indicates that area 3b serves as a cortical relay site that primarily encodes (cutaneous) tactile features limited to individual digits. Our recent work argues against this model by showing that area 3b cells can integrate both cutaneous and proprioceptive information from the hand. Here, we further test the validity of this model by studying multi-digit (MD) integration properties in area 3b.

Early Emergence of Solid Shape Coding in Natural and Deep Network Vision.

Area V4 is the first object-specific processing stage in the ventral visual pathway, just as area MT is the first motion-specific processing stage in the dorsal pathway. For almost 50 years, coding of object shape in V4 has been studied and conceived in terms of flat pattern processing, given its early position in the transformation of 2D visual images. Here, however, in awake monkey recording experiments, we found that roughly half of V4 neurons are more tuned and responsive to solid, 3D shape-in-depth, as conveyed by shading, specularity, reflection, refraction, or disparity cues in images.

Vision: Dialogues between Deep Networks and the Brain.

Two new papers show how deep neural networks interacting with the brain can generate visual images that drive surprisingly strong neural responses. These images are tantalizing reflections of visual information in the brain.

First-Pass Processing of Value Cues in the Ventral Visual Pathway.

Real-world value often depends on subtle, continuously variable visual cues specific to particular object categories, like the tailoring of a suit, the condition of an automobile, or the construction of a house. Here, we used microelectrode recording in behaving monkeys to test two possible mechanisms for category-specific value-cue processing: (1) previous findings suggest that prefrontal cortex (PFC) identifies object categories, and based on category identity, PFC could use top-down attentional modulation to enhance visual processing of category-specific value cues, providing signals to PFC for calculating value, and (2) a faster mechanism would be first-pass visual processing of category-specific value cues, immediately providing the necessary visual information to PFC. This, however, would require learned mechanisms for processing the appropriate cues in a given object category.

Integration of objects and space in perception and memory.

Distinct processing of objects and space has been an organizing principle for studying higher-level vision and medial temporal lobe memory. Here, however, we discuss how object and spatial information are in fact closely integrated in vision and memory. The ventral, object-processing visual pathway carries precise spatial information, transformed from retinotopic coordinates into relative dimensions.

Representation of Gravity-Aligned Scene Structure in Ventral Pathway Visual Cortex.

The ventral visual pathway in humans and non-human primates is known to represent object information, including shape and identity [1]. Here, we show the ventral pathway also represents scene structure aligned with the gravitational reference frame in which objects move and interact. We analyzed shape tuning of recently described macaque monkey ventral pathway neurons that prefer scene-like stimuli to objects [2].

The Decision Path Not Taken.

Real-life decisions often involve multiple intermediate choices among competing, interdependent options. Lorteije et al. (2015) introduce a new paradigm for dissecting the neural strategies underlying such decisions.

A channel for 3D environmental shape in anterior inferotemporal cortex.

Inferotemporal cortex (IT) has long been studied as a single pathway dedicated to object vision, but connectivity analysis reveals anatomically distinct channels, through ventral superior temporal sulcus (STSv) and dorsal/ventral inferotemporal gyrus (TEd, TEv). Here, we report a major functional distinction between channels. We studied individual IT neurons in monkeys viewing stereoscopic 3D images projected on a large screen.

Representation of tactile curvature in macaque somatosensory area 2.

Tactile shape information is elaborated in a cortical hierarchy spanning primary (SI) and secondary somatosensory cortex (SII). Indeed, SI neurons in areas 3b and 1 encode simple contour features such as small oriented bars and edges, whereas higher order SII neurons represent large curved contour features such as angles and arcs. However, neural coding of these contour features has not been systematically characterized in area 2, the most caudal SI subdivision in the postcentral gyrus.

Medial axis shape coding in macaque inferotemporal cortex.

The basic, still unanswered question about visual object representation is this: what specific information is encoded by neural signals? Theorists have long predicted that neurons would encode medial axis or skeletal object shape, yet recent studies reveal instead neural coding of boundary or surface shape. Here, we addressed this theoretical/experimental disconnect, using adaptive shape sampling to demonstrate explicit coding of medial axis shape in high-level object cortex (macaque monkey inferotemporal cortex or IT). Our metric shape analyses revealed a coding continuum, along which most neurons represent a configuration of both medial axis and surface components.

Toward a unified theory of visual area V4.

Visual area V4 is a midtier cortical area in the ventral visual pathway. It is crucial for visual object recognition and has been a focus of many studies on visual attention. However, there is no unifying view of V4's role in visual processing.

Curvature processing dynamics in macaque area V4.

We have previously analyzed shape processing dynamics in macaque monkey posterior inferotemporal cortex (PIT). We described how early PIT responses to individual contour fragments evolve into tuning for multifragment shape configurations. Here, we analyzed curvature processing dynamics in area V4, which provides feedforward inputs to PIT.

Neural representations for object perception: structure, category, and adaptive coding.

Object perception is one of the most remarkable capacities of the primate brain. Owing to the large and indeterminate dimensionality of object space, the neural basis of object perception has been difficult to study and remains controversial. Recent work has provided a more precise picture of how 2D and 3D object structure is encoded in intermediate and higher-level visual cortices.

A sparse object coding scheme in area V4.

Sparse coding has long been recognized as a primary goal of image transformation in the visual system. Sparse coding in early visual cortex is achieved by abstracting local oriented spatial frequencies and by excitatory/inhibitory surround modulation. Object responses are thought to be sparse at subsequent processing stages, but neural mechanisms for higher-level sparsification are not known.

Analogous intermediate shape coding in vision and touch.

We recognize, understand, and interact with objects through both vision and touch. Conceivably, these two sensory systems encode object shape in similar ways, which could facilitate cross-modal communication. To test this idea, we studied single neurons in macaque monkey intermediate visual (area V4) and somatosensory (area SII) cortex, using matched shape stimuli.

A neural code for three-dimensional object shape in macaque inferotemporal cortex.

Previous investigations of the neural code for complex object shape have focused on two-dimensional pattern representation. This may be the primary mode for object vision given its simplicity and direct relation to the retinal image. In contrast, three-dimensional shape representation requires higher-dimensional coding derived from extensive computation.

A model of V4 shape selectivity and invariance.

Object recognition in primates is mediated by the ventral visual pathway and is classically described as a feedforward hierarchy of increasingly sophisticated representations. Neurons in macaque monkey area V4, an intermediate stage along the ventral pathway, have been shown to exhibit selectivity to complex boundary conformation and invariance to spatial translation. How could such a representation be derived from the signals in lower visual areas such as V1? We show that a quantitative model of hierarchical processing, which is part of a larger model of object recognition in the ventral pathway, provides a plausible mechanism for the translation-invariant shape representation observed in area V4.

Transformation of shape information in the ventral pathway.

Object perception seems effortless to us, but it depends on intensive neural processing across multiple stages in ventral pathway visual cortex. Shape information at the retinal level is hopelessly complex, variable and implicit. The ventral pathway must somehow transform retinal signals into much more compact, stable and explicit representations of object shape.

Dynamic shape synthesis in posterior inferotemporal cortex.

How does the brain synthesize low-level neural signals for simple shape parts into coherent representations of complete objects? Here, we present evidence for a dynamic process of object part integration in macaque posterior inferotemporal cortex (IT). Immediately after stimulus onset, neural responses carried information about individual object parts (simple contour fragments) only. Subsequently, information about specific multipart configurations emerged, building gradually over the course of approximately 60 ms, producing a sparser and more explicit representation of object shape.