Cited by 359Visual perception and processing mechanismsFace Recognition and PerceptionMultisensory perception and integration

Complex objects are represented in macaque inferotemporal cortex by the combination of feature columns

Tsunoda, Kazushige, Yamane, Yukako, Nishizaki, Makoto, Tanifuji, Manabu·2001·Nature Neuroscience

Abstract

Intrinsic signal imaging from inferotemporal (IT) cortex, a visual area essential for object perception and recognition, revealed that visually presented objects activated patches in a distributed manner. When visual features of these objects were partially removed, the simplified stimuli activated only a subset of the patches elicited by the originals. This result, in conjunction with extracellular recording, suggests that an object is represented by a combination of cortical columns, each of which represents a visual feature (feature column). Simplification of an object occasionally caused the appearance of columns that were not active when viewing the more complex form. Thus, not all the columns related to a particular feature were necessarily activated by the original objects. Taken together, these results suggest that objects may be represented not only by simply combining feature columns but also by using a variety of combinations of active and inactive columns for individual features.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/90547

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28 of 28 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The IT cortex is composed of a mosaic of neuronal patches that respond to elementary shapes, whose combination can encode arbitrary objects.

    “Furthermore, combined optical imaging and single-cell recordings suggest that the IT cortex is composed of a mosaic of neuronal patches that respond to elementary shapes, whose combination can encode arbitrary objects [39,42].”
  • The binding of letters into words might be related to the representation of complex objects in IT cortex through the coactivation of neurons tuned to their elementary parts.

    “Likewise, the binding of letters into words might be related to the representation of complex objects in IT cortex through the coactivation of neurons tuned to their elementary parts (Tsunoda et al., 2001).”

    From Specialization within the ventral stream: the case for the visual word form area (2004) · cites this paper as Tsunoda et al., 2001

  • This kind of columnar organization is typical in biology.

    “This kind of columnar organization is typical in biology [38],[39].”

    From Towards a mathematical theory of cortical micro-circuits (2009) · cites this paper as [38]

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Authors
Tsunoda, K., Yamane, Y., Nishizaki, M., & Tanifuji, M.
Affiliations
  • RIKEN Center for Brain Science (JP)
  • Hokkaido University (JP)
Corresponding author
Tanifuji, Manabu
Venue
Nature Neuroscience
Published
2001-08
Volume
4
Issue
8
Pages
832-838
ISSN
  • 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
  • 1546-1726
OpenAlex
W1524840732
Cited by
359
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 21
FWCI
8.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
Keywords
inferotemporal cortex, object recognition, object representation, intrinsic signal imaging, macaque
MeSH terms
Action Potentials, Animals, Electronic Data Processing, Brain Mapping, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Macaca mulatta, Neurons, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Temporal Lobe, Visual Pathways

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