Article abstract
Nature Neuroscience 11, 1439 - 1445 (2008)
Published online: 2 November 2008 | doi:10.1038/nn.2218
Feedback of visual object information to foveal retinotopic cortex
Mark A Williams1,2, Chris I Baker3,7, Hans P Op de Beeck4,7, Won Mok Shim1,5, Sabin Dang1, Christina Triantafyllou6 & Nancy Kanwisher1,5
Abstract
The mammalian visual system contains an extensive web of feedback connections projecting from higher cortical areas to lower areas, including primary visual cortex. Although multiple theories have been proposed, the role of these connections in perceptual processing is not understood. We found that the pattern of functional magnetic resonance imaging response in human foveal retinotopic cortex contained information about objects presented in the periphery, far away from the fovea, which has not been predicted by prior theories of feedback. This information was position invariant, correlated with perceptual discrimination accuracy and was found only in foveal, but not peripheral, retinotopic cortex. Our data cannot be explained by differential eye movements, activation from the fixation cross, or spillover activation from peripheral retinotopic cortex or from lateral occipital complex. Instead, our findings indicate that position-invariant object information from higher cortical areas is fed back to foveal retinotopic cortex, enhancing task performance.
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
- Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Building C5C, Room 404, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia.
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, 10 Center Drive, Building 10, Room 3N228, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
- Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center at McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Mark A Williams1,2 e-mail: mark.williams@maccs.mq.edu.au
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