Radial Frequency Analysis of Contour Shapes in the Visual Cortex
Loading...
Access rights
openAccess
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
This publication is imported from Aalto University research portal.
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
Date
2016-02-01
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
18
1-18
1-18
Series
PLoS Computational Biology, Volume 12, issue 2
Abstract
Cumulative psychophysical evidence suggests that the shape of closed contours is analysed by means of their radial frequency components (RFC). However, neurophysiological evidence for RFC-based representations is still missing. We investigated the representation of radial frequency in the human visual cortex with functional magnetic resonance imaging. We parametrically varied the radial frequency, amplitude and local curvature of contour shapes. The stimuli evoked clear responses across visual areas in the univariate analysis, but the response magnitude did not depend on radial frequency or local curvature. Searchlight-based, multivariate representational similarity analysis revealed RFC specific response patterns in areas V2d, V3d, V3AB, and IPS0. Interestingly, RFC-specific representations were not found in hV4 or LO, traditionally associated with visual shape analysis. The modulation amplitude of the shapes did not affect the responses in any visual area. Local curvature, SF-spectrum and contrast energy related representations were found across visual areas but without similar specificity for visual area that was found for RFC. The results suggest that the radial frequency of a closed contour is one of the cortical shape analysis dimensions, represented in the early and mid-level visual areas.Description
Keywords
human visual cortex, brain research
Other note
Citation
Salmela, V R, Henriksson, L & Vanni, S 2016, ' Radial Frequency Analysis of Contour Shapes in the Visual Cortex ', PLoS computational biology, vol. 12, no. 2, e1004719, pp. 1-18 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004719