Mirror-Image Sensitivity and Invariance in Object and Scene Processing Pathways
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Dilks-2011-Aug-Mirror-Image Sensitivity.pdf
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Author(s)
Dilks, Daniel D.
Julian, Joshua B.
Kubilius, Jonas
Spelke, Elizabeth S.
Kanwisher, Nancy
Date Issued
June 2011
Journal
Journal of Neuroscience
Publisher
Society for Neuroscience
Citation
Dilks, D. D. et al. “Mirror-Image Sensitivity and Invariance in Object and Scene Processing Pathways.” Journal of Neuroscience 31.31 (2011): 11305–11312. Web.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Electrophysiological and behavioral studies in many species have demonstrated mirror-image confusion for objects, perhaps because many objects are vertically symmetric (e.g., a cup is the same cup when seen in left or right profile). In contrast, the navigability of a scene changes when it is mirror reversed, and behavioral studies reveal high sensitivity to this change. Thus, we predicted that representations in object-selective cortex will be unaffected by mirror reversals, whereas representations in scene-selective cortex will be sensitive to such reversals. To test this hypothesis, we ran an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging adaptation experiment in human adults. Consistent with our prediction, we found tolerance to mirror reversals in one object-selective region, the posterior fusiform sulcus, and a strong sensitivity to these reversals in two scene-selective regions, the transverse occipital sulcus and the retrosplenial complex. However, a more posterior object-selective region, the lateral occipital sulcus, showed sensitivity to mirror reversals, suggesting that the sense information that distinguishes mirror images is represented at earlier stages in the object-processing hierarchy. Moreover, one scene-selective region (the parahippocampal place area or PPA) was tolerant to mirror reversals. This last finding challenges the hypothesis that the PPA is involved in navigation and reorientation and suggests instead that scenes, like objects, are processed by distinct pathways guiding recognition and action.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1935-11.2011
