Neural mechanisms of recognizing scene configurations from multiple viewpoints

Combined fMRI and eye-tracking evidence on the neural processing of visual ambiguity in photographic aesthetics

While visual ambiguity is known to play a central role in modern art, the neural correlates of its processing remain substantially unexplored in the case of aesthetic stimuli. To fill this gap, we combined eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate both visual exploration, and the associated brain activity and connectivity, when observing (WO) or evaluating (WE) either ambiguous (AMB+) or non-ambiguous (AMB-) artistic photographic stimuli. These manipulations highlighted more fixations (suggestive of higher loading on exploratory processes) when evaluating compared with observing, and stronger right fronto-parietal and occipito-temporal activity (possibly supporting the resolution of visual ambiguity through attentional reorienting to global vs. local aspects) when processing ambiguous compared with non-ambiguous stimuli. Task-by-stimulus type interaction analyses showed that evaluating ambiguous stimuli was specifically associated with stronger fixation-related activity in the left medial prefrontal cortex, as well as decreased connectivity from this region to its right-hemispheric homologue, possibly supporting in-depth visuospatial analyses of complex visual images. These findings pave the way for future studies addressing the role of visual ambiguity in aesthetic appreciation, as well as the factors that might ease vs. hamper its processing and resolution, and their neural correlates.

The limited contribution of early visual cortex in visual working memory for surface roughness

Are visual representations in the human early visual cortex necessary for visual working memory (VWM)? Previous studies suggest that VWM is underpinned by distributed representations across several brain regions, including the early visual cortex. Notably, in these studies, participants had to memorize images under consistent visual conditions. However, in our daily lives, we must retain the essential visual properties of objects despite changes in illumination or viewpoint. The role of brain regions-particularly the early visual cortices-in these situations remains unclear. The present study investigated whether the early visual cortex was essential for achieving stable VWM. Focusing on VWM for object surface properties, we conducted fMRI experiments, while male and female participants performed a delayed roughness discrimination task in which sample and probe spheres were presented under varying illumination. By applying multi-voxel pattern analysis to brain activity in regions of interest, we found that the ventral visual cortex and intraparietal sulcus were involved in roughness VWM under changing illumination conditions. In contrast, VWM was not supported as robustly by the early visual cortex. These findings show that visual representations in the early visual cortex alone are insufficient for the robust roughness VWM representation required during changes in illumination.

THE LIMITED EFFECT OF COINCIDENT ORIENTATION ON THE CHOICE OF INTRINSIC AXIS (.)

The allocentric system computes and represents general object-to-object spatial relationships to provide a spatial frame of reference other than the egocentric system. The intrinsic frame-of-reference system theory, which suggests people learn the locations of objects based upon an intrinsic axis, is important in research about the allocentric system. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the effect of coincident orientation on the choice of intrinsic axis was limited. Two groups of participants (24 men, 24 women; M age = 24 yr., SD = 2) encoded different spatial layouts in which the objects shared the coincident orientation of 315° and 225° separately at learning perspective (0°). The response pattern of partial-scene-recognition task following learning reflected different strategies for choosing the intrinsic axis under different conditions. Under the 315° object-orientation condition, the objects' coincident orientation was as important as the symmetric axis in the choice of the intrinsic axis. However, participants were more likely to choose the symmetric axis as the intrinsic axis under the 225° object-orientation condition. The results suggest the effect of coincident orientation on the choice of intrinsic axis is limited.

Reference frames in allocentric representations are invariant across static and active encoding

An influential model of spatial memory—the so-called reference systems account—proposes that relationships between objects are biased by salient axes (“frames of reference”) provided by environmental cues, such as the geometry of a room. In this study, we sought to examine the extent to which a salient environmental feature influences the formation of spatial memories when learning occurs via a single, static viewpoint and via active navigation, where information has to be integrated across multiple viewpoints. In our study, participants learned the spatial layout of an object array that was arranged with respect to a prominent environmental feature within a virtual arena. Location memory was tested using judgments of relative direction. Experiment 1A employed a design similar to previous studies whereby learning of object-location information occurred from a single, static viewpoint. Consistent with previous studies, spatial judgments were significantly more accurate when made from an orientation that was aligned, as opposed to misaligned, with the salient environmental feature. In Experiment 1B, a fresh group of participants learned the same object-location information through active exploration, which required integration of spatial information over time from a ground-level perspective. As in Experiment 1A, object-location information was organized around the salient environmental cue. Taken together, the findings suggest that the learning condition (static vs. active) does not affect the reference system employed to encode object-location information. Spatial reference systems appear to be a ubiquitous property of spatial representations, and might serve to reduce the cognitive demands of spatial processing.