Cue Competition Affects Temporal Dynamics of Edge-assignment in Human Visual Cortex

Edge-assignment determines the perception of relative depth across an edge and the shape of the closer side. Many cues determine edge-assignment, but relatively little is known about the neural mechanisms involved in combining these cues. Here, we manipulated extremal edge and attention cues to bias...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cognitive neuroscience Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 631 - 644
Main Authors Brooks, Joseph L., Palmer, Stephen E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209, USA MIT Press 01.03.2011
MIT Press Journals, The
Subjects
Analysis of Variance
Attention - physiology
Brain
Cues
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials, Visual - physiology
Eye Movements - physiology
Female
Form Perception - physiology
Humans
Male
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Neurosciences
Perceptions
Physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
Visual Cortex - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Edge-assignment determines the perception of relative depth across an edge and the shape of the closer side. Many cues determine edge-assignment, but relatively little is known about the neural mechanisms involved in combining these cues. Here, we manipulated extremal edge and attention cues to bias edge-assignment such that these two cues either cooperated or competed. To index their neural representations, we flickered figure and ground regions at different frequencies and measured the corresponding steady-state visual-evoked potentials (SSVEPs). Figural regions had stronger SSVEP responses than ground regions, independent of whether they were attended or unattended. In addition, competition and cooperation between the two edge-assignment cues significantly affected the temporal dynamics of edge-assignment processes. The figural SSVEP response peaked earlier when the cues causing it cooperated than when they competed, but sustained edge-assignment effects were equivalent for cooperating and competing cues, consistent with a winner-take-all outcome. These results provide physiological evidence that figure–ground organization involves competitive processes that can affect the latency of figural assignment.
Bibliography:March, 2011
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ISSN:0898-929X
1530-8898
DOI:10.1162/jocn.2010.21433