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Representation of motion boundaries in retinotopic human visual cortical areas

Nature volume 388, pages 175–179 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Edges are important in the interpretation of the retinal image. Although luminance edges have been studied extensively, much less is known about how or where the primate visual system detects boundaries defined by differences in surface properties such as texture, motion or binocular disparity. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to localize human visual cortical activity related to the processing of one such higher-order edge type: motion boundaries. We describe a robust fMRI signal that is selective for motion segmentation. This boundary-specific signal is present, and retinotopically organized, within early visual areas, beginning in the primary visual cortex (area V1). Surprisingly, it is largely absent from the motion-selective area MT/V5 and far extrastriate visual areas. Changes in the surface velocity defining the motion boundaries affect the strength of the fMRI signal. In parallel psychophysical experiments, the perceptual salience of the boundaries shows a similar dependence on surface velocity. These results demonstrate that information for segmenting scenes by relative motion is represented as early as V1.

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Figure 1: The motion segmentation fMRI signal and its anatomical distribution.
Figure 2: A circular motion boundary produces modulated fMRI activity at the cortical representation of that circle.
Figure 4: The modulated component of the fMRI segmentation signal varies with the perceptual salience of the motion boundary display.
Figure 3: Tuning of the fMRI segmentation signal in three visual areas as a function of boundary density.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Adelson, S. Brown, M. Livingstone and W. van Duffel for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. S. Macknik kindly loaned us the eye-tracking device used in some experiments. We are grateful for the technical support of T. Campbell, T. Davis, M. Foley and M. Vevea, and to all of our subjects. J.B.R. was supported by an HHMI predoctoral fellowship, and R.B.H.T. by the Human Frontiers program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. *Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    John B. Reppas

  2. †Massachusetts General Hospital Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, 02129, Massachusetts, USA

    John B. Reppas, Anders M. Dale & Roger B. H. Tootell

  3. ‡Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Perceptual Science Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Sourabh Niyogi

  4. §Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0515, California, USA

    Martin I. Sereno

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  1. John B. Reppas
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Correspondence to John B. Reppas.

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Reppas, J., Niyogi, S., Dale, A. et al. Representation of motion boundaries in retinotopic human visual cortical areas. Nature 388, 175–179 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/40633

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