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Neural correlates of implied motion

Nature volume 424, pages 674–677 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Current views of the visual system assume that the primate brain analyses form and motion along largely independent pathways1; they provide no insight into why form is sometimes interpreted as motion. In a series of psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments in humans and macaques, here we show that some form information is processed in the prototypical motion areas of the superior temporal sulcus (STS). First, we show that STS cells respond to dynamic Glass patterns2, which contain no coherent motion but suggest a path of motion3. Second, we show that when motion signals conflict with form signals suggesting a different path of motion, both humans and monkeys perceive motion in a compromised direction. This compromise also has a correlate in the responses of STS cells, which alter their direction preferences in the presence of conflicting implied motion information. We conclude that cells in the prototypical motion areas in the dorsal visual cortex process form that implies motion. Estimating motion by combining motion cues with form cues may be a strategy to deal with the complexities of motion perception in our natural environment.

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Figure 1: Optimal Glass patterns activate the STS population.
Figure 2: Responses to implied motion in a single cell.
Figure 3: Interactions between real and implied motion.
Figure 4: Interactions between real and implied motion in a single cell.
Figure 5: Monkey psychophysics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Constanza, D. Diep, L. Abavare and M. Bronzel for technical assistance, C. Distler for the surgeries, and G. Stoner and T. Albright for comments and discussions. The Human Frontiers Science Program and the Australian Research Council supported this work financially.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vision Center Laboratory, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, 92037, USA

    Bart Krekelberg

  2. Department of Neurobiology, Ruhr University, Bochum, D-44780, Germany

    Sabine Dannenberg, Klaus-Peter Hoffmann & Frank Bremmer

  3. Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Neurophysics, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Frank Bremmer

  4. School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6907, Australia

    John Ross

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  1. Bart Krekelberg
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  2. Sabine Dannenberg
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  4. Frank Bremmer
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  5. John Ross
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Correspondence to Bart Krekelberg.

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Krekelberg, B., Dannenberg, S., Hoffmann, KP. et al. Neural correlates of implied motion. Nature 424, 674–677 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01852

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