Perception and object

recognition
Module 2
Contents
Theories of Perception: Gestalt approach, Top–Down vs. Bottom- up Processing, Information Processing; Pattern Recognition: Feature
detection analysis, Template matching, Prototype matching;

Biological basis of perception and basic plan of generating sensory codes – Visual, Auditory, Touch, Pain, Smell; Basic psychophysics
and Signal Detection Theory. Visual perception - Form, Colour, Depth, Objects and Faces.
Sensation and Perception
● Detecting the presence of a certain type of energy and making use of that
energy to provide information as to the nature of the environment surrounding
us.
● Thus sensation’ to refer to that initial detection and the term ‘perception’ to
refer to the process of constructing a description of the surrounding world.
● For example, there is a difference between the cells in a person’s eye
reacting to light (sensation) and that person knowing that their friend is
offering them a cup of tea (perception).
The Perceptual Process
Distinction between sensation and perception
Figure 1: The subject of the picture is a Dalmatian dog. Why is it difficult to see?

● t is not a complete figure.

● Even when asked to see a dog, we may adopt a set to perceive an entire figure, not part of one.
● The contours are insufficient to readily differentiate figure from ground.
● Both figure and ground are made up of irregular spots of black and white.

Figure 2: The subject of the picture is a fraser spiral. Why is it difficult to see?

● Although the figure appears to form a spiral, it is actually a set of concentric circles.
Perceptual process

● Perception is conscious sensory experience.

● It occurs when the electrical signals that represent the moth are
transformed by the girl’s (Ellen) brain into her experience of seeing
the moth
● Recognition is our ability to place an object in a category, such as
“moth,” that gives it meaning.
● They both are different
Dr. P., a well-known musician and music teacher, first noticed a problem
when he began having trouble recognizing his students visually, although he
could immediately identify them by the sound of their voices. But when Dr. P.
began misperceiving common objects, for example addressing a parking
meter as if it were a person or expecting a carved knob on a piece of
furniture to engage him in conversation, it became clear that his problem was
more serious than just a little forgetfulness.

It was clear from an eye examination that he could see well and, by many
other criteria, it was obvious that he was not crazy. Dr. P.’s problem was
eventually diagnosed as visual form agnosia—an inability to recognize
objects—that was caused by a brain tumor. He perceived the parts of objects
but couldn’t identify the whole object, so when Sacks showed him a glove,
Dr. P. described it as “a continuous surface unfolded on itself. (Sacks, 1985)
Perceptual process
● The fact that perception often leads to action means that perception is a
continuously changing process.
● For example, the scene that Ellen is observing changes every time she shifts
her attention to something else or moves to a new location, or when
something in the scene moves.
● Knowledge is any information that the perceiver brings to a situation
● Information that a person brings to a situation can be things learned years
ago, such as when Ellen learned to tell the difference between a moth and a
butterfly, or knowledge obtained from events that have just happened.
Bottom-up and top-down processing

● Perception is determined by an interaction between bottom-up

processing, which starts with the image on the receptors, and
● top-down processing, which brings the observer’s knowledge into
play.
● For example, (a) the image of the moth on Ellen’s retina initiates
bottom-up processing; the incoming data are the patterns of light and
dark on her retina created by light reflected from the moth and the tree
and
● (b) her prior knowledge of moths contributes to top-down processing;
this knowledge includes what she knows about moths.
Consider these two scenarios:

1 A blindfolded student trying to work out what the unknown object they have

been handed might be.

2 A blindfolded student searching for their textbook.

Imagine you are the blindfolded student. What strategies do you think you might

employ to complete the above two tasks successfully? Can you identify any key

differences in these strategies?

1. Try to build-up a ‘picture’ of the object by gradually feeling it.
2. Hold in your mind the likely shape and texture of the book and to search the
environment for an object that shares these characteristics.
● The key difference between these scenarios is the direction in which
information about the object is ‘flowing’, demonstrated by how the student’s
existing knowledge of what objects look like is being utilized.
● In the first scenario, information is flowing ‘upward’, starting with an analysis
of the information derived from the senses (in this case via touch). In the
second scenario, information is flowing ‘downward’, starting with the
knowledge of what books tend to feel like.
Processing
● One approach starts with the image formed on the retina by the light entering
the eye and proceeds by analysing this pattern to gradually build up a
representation of the object in view, involving bottom-up processing.
● This means that the flow of information through the perceptual system starts
from the bottom – the sensory receptors – and works upward until an internal
representation of the object is formed.
● The student starts with existing knowledge regarding the environment and
use this to guide their processing of sensory information. Thus the flow of
information progressed from the top down as it started with existing
knowledge stored in the brain, involving top-down processing.
Consider the scenario
Pharmacist is given the doctor’s prescription; Identify the processing involved
What do you perceive?
What do you perceive?
Approaches to perception
Approaches to perception
Muller-Lyer illusion, in which the vertical line on the left is perceived as being
longer even though both lines are of an identical length.

Necker cube, in which it is possible to perceive the cube in either of two

perspectives (although you can never see both at the same time)

Kanizsa’s (1976) illusory square, in which a square is perceived even though the
image does not contain a square but only four three-quarter-complete circles.
Gestalt approach to perception: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.

an image tended to be perceived according to the organization of the elements

within it, rather than according to the nature of the individual elements themselves.

organizational phenomenon of closure

Gestalt approach to perception

The organizational law of proximity

The organizational laws of similarity and proximity
Gestalt approach to perception

Law of Pragnanz, described by Koffka as: ‘Of several geometrically possible organizations that one will
actually occur which possesses the best, simplest and most stable shape’ (Koffka, 1935, p.138).
Gibson’s theory of perception
● One bottom-up approach to perception, is based on the premise that the
information available from the visual environment is so rich that no
cognitive processing is required at all.
● Gibson conceptualized the link between perception and action by
suggesting that perception is direct, in that the information present in light
is sufficient to allow a person to move through and interact with the
environment.
Gibson’s theory of perception

● According to Gibson’s theory of direct perception, the information in our sensory

receptors, including the sensory context, is all we need to perceive anything.
● As the environment supplies us with all the information we need for perception,
this view is sometimes also called ecological perception.
● In other words, we do not need higher cognitive processes or anything else to
mediate between our sensory experiences and our perceptions.
● Existing beliefs or higher-level inferential thought processes are not necessary for
perception.
Gibson’s theory of perception
● Direct perception may also play a role in interpersonal situations when
we try to make sense of others’ emotions and intentions as can
almost instantaneously recognize facial expression as a whole
emotion; we do not see multiple aspects of facial expressions
● Gibson's theory cannot account for perceptual errors like the general
tendency for people to overestimate vertical extents relative to
horizontal ones.
● It does not explain naturally occurring illusions. For example if you
stare for some time at a waterfall and then transfer your gaze to a
stationary object, the object appears to move in the opposite direction
.
Neuroscience and direct perception
● Neuroscience also indicates that direct perception may be involved in
person perception.
● About 30 to 100 milliseconds after a visual stimulus, mirror neurons start
firing.
● Mirror neurons are active both when a person acts and when he or she
observes that same act performed by somebody else.
● So before we even have time to form hypotheses about what we are
perceiving, we may already be able to understand the expressions,
emotions, and movements of the person we observe (Gallagher, 2008).
● separate neural pathways in the lateral occipital area process form, color,
and texture in objects.
Template theories

● A retinal image of an object is compared directly to stored patterns (templates).

● The object is recognized as the template that gives the best match.
● Used by computers to recognize patterns
● Template matching theories belong to the group of chunk-based theories; which
suggest that expertise is attained by acquiring chunks of knowledge in long-term
memory that can later be accessed for fast recognition.
● In each of the instances, the goal is to find one perfect match and disregard imperfect
matches.
Template theories

● Studies with chess players have shown that the temporal lobe is
indeed activated when the players access the stored chunks in their
long-term memory (Campitelli et al., 2007).
● Template matching theories fail to explain some aspects of the
perception of letters. (The CAT)
● We identify two different letters ( A & H) from only one physical form.
 Neuroscience and template theories
● Experiments suggest that there is a
difference in brain between the perception
of letters and digits.
● An area on or near the left fusiform gyrus
(part of the occipital and temporal lobes) is
activated significantly more when a person
is presented with letters than with digits.
● A particular barcode will always look exactly
the same way, making it easy for
computers to read. Letters, to the contrary,
can look different although they depict the
same letter.
● Template matching will distinguish between
different bar codes but will not recognize
that different versions of the letter A written
in different scripts are indeed both A’s.
Feature-Matching Theories

● We attempt to match features of a pattern to features stored in

memory, rather than to match a whole pattern to a template or a
prototype
● Stimuli are combinations of elemental features.
● Features are recognized and combined.
● Features are simpler, so problems of orientation, size, etc., can be
solved.
● Relationships among features are specified to define the pattern.
Feature-Matching Theories: Pandemonium model
There are four kinds of demons: image demons, feature demons, cognitive demons,
and decision demons (Selfridge, 1959).
1. The “image demons” receive a retinal image and pass it on to “feature demons.”
2. Each feature demon calls out when matches are made between the stimulus and
the given feature. These matches are yelled out at demons at the next level of
the hierarchy, the “cognitive (thinking) demons.”
3. The cognitive demons in turn shout out possible patterns stored in memory that
conform to one or more of the features noticed by the feature demons.
4. A “decision demon” listens to the pandemonium of the cognitive demons. It
decides on what has been seen, based on which cognitive demon is shouting the
most frequently (i.e., which has the most matching features)
Features of letters
Feature-Matching Theories: Pandemonium model
1.
Selfridge’s Feature-Matching Model

● According to Oliver Selfridge’s feature-matching model, we recognize patterns

by matching observed features to features already stored in memory.
● We recognize the patterns for which we have found the greatest number of
matches.
● In the example, the feature demons indicate that the sensory input (the letter
R) has one vertical line, two horizontal lines, one oblique line, two right
angles, two acute angles, and one discontinuous curve.
● These features permit the cognitive demons to conclude that the letter in
question may be either the letter D, P, or R.
● The decision demon then makes a decision on which letter has been
perceived.
Neuroscience and feature matching theories
● Researchers used single-cell recording techniques with animals (Hubel & Wiesel,
1963, 1968, 1979). They carefully measured the responses of individual neurons to
visual stimuli in the visual cortex.
● Then they mapped those neurons to corresponding visual stimuli for particular
locations in the visual field
● The visual cortex contains specific neurons that respond only to a particular kind of
stimulus (e.g., a horizontal line), and only if that stimulus fell onto a specific region of
the retina.
● Each individual cortical neuron, therefore, can be mapped to a specific receptive field
on the retina.
● A disproportionately large amount of the visual cortex is devoted to neurons mapped
to receptive fields in the foveal region of the retina, which is the area of the most acute
vision.
Neuroscience and feature matching theories

● Feature detectors respond to corners, angles, stars, or triangles (DeValois &

DeValois, 1980; Shapley & Lennie, 1985; Tanaka, 1993).
● In some areas of the cortex, highly sophisticated complex cells fire
maximally only in response to specific shapes, regardless of the size of the
given stimulus. Examples would be a hand or a face.
● As the stimulus decreasingly resembles the optimal shape, these cells are
decreasingly likely to fire.
Recognition-by-Components Theory

Biederman’s recognition-by-components:
● We recognize 3D objects by manipulating simple geometric shapes
called geons (for geometrical ions)
● Parts of the larger object are recognized as subobjects.
● Subobjects are categorized into types of geons
● The larger object is recognized as a pattern formed by combining
geons.
● Only edges are needed to recognize geons.
Sample jeons
Example
If you see a car, you perceive it as being made up of a number of different geons.
You can recognize the car even if it is partly obscured by another object and you
can’t see all of the geons. This is because you can still infer the presence of the
other geons. Cells in the inferior temporal cortex react stronger to changes in
geons than to changes in other geometrical properties (e.g., changes in the size
or diameter of a cylinder; Vogels et al., 2001).
How do you distinguish one face from the other?
Recognition-by-Components Theory

● Biederman’s RBC theory explains how we may recognize general

instances of chairs, lamps, and faces, but it does not adequately
explain how we recognize particular chairs or particular faces.
● Faces are made up of geons that constitute mouth, eyes, nose,
eyebrows, and so forth. But these geons are the same for two faces
So RBC theory cannot explain how we can distinguish one face from
the next.
Neuroscience and Recognition-by-Components Theory
● Studies have found neurons in the inferior temporal cortex that are sensitive
to geons (Vogels et al., 2001).
● Many neurons, however, respond primarily to one view of an object and
decrease their response gradually the more the object is rotated (Logothetis,
Pauls, & Poggio, 1995). This finding contradicts the notion of Biederman’s
theory that we recognize objects by means of viewpoint-invariant geons.
Top-down theories
Why do we see an H in the first word but an A in the second word?
Top down theories
● Constructive perception: the perceiver constructs a cognitive understanding
(perception) of a stimulus.
● The concepts of the perceiver and his or her cognitive processes influence
what he or she sees.
● The perceiver uses sensory information as the foundation for the structure but
also uses other sources of information to build the perception. This viewpoint
also is known as intelligent perception because it states that higher-order
thinking plays an important role in perception.
● It also emphasizes the role of learning in perception (Fahle, 2003).
● Perception both affects and is affected by the world as we experience it.
Top down theories” Support for constructivism
● The strength of the context also plays a role in object recognition
(Bar, 2004).
● Context effects are the influences of the surrounding environment on
perception
● Participants might see a scene of a kitchen followed by stimuli such as a
loaf of bread, a mailbox, and a drum. Objects that were appropriate to the
established context, such as the loaf of bread were recognized more
rapidly than were objects that were inappropriate to the established
context.
identify which stimulus is unlike the others
● Subjects more readily
perceive differences among
integrated configurations
comprising multiple lines (c)
than they do solitary lines
(a). In this figure, the

lines in panel (b) are added

to the lines in panel (a) to
form shapes in panel (c),
thereby making panel (c)
more complex than panel
(a). (The
configural-superiority effect)
Context effects
● The configural-superiority effect: Objects presented in certain configurations are
easier to recognize than the objects presented in isolation, even if the objects in
the configurations are more complex than those in isolation.
● Object-superiority effect in which a target line that forms a part of a drawing of a
3-D object is identified more accurately than a target that forms a part of a
disconnected 2-D pattern
● The word-superiority effect indicates that when people are presented with strings
of letters, it is easier for them to identify a single letter if the string makes sense
and forms a word instead of being just a nonsense sequel of letters. For example,
it is easier to recognize the letter o in the word house than in the word huseo.
Top down theories

● During perception, we quickly form and test various hypotheses regarding

percepts. The percepts are based on the following:
● 􀀁􀀁 what we sense (the sensory data)
● 􀀁􀀁 what we know (knowledge stored in memory)
● 􀀁􀀁 what we can infer (using high-level cognitive processes)
● Successful constructive perception requires intelligence and thought in
combining sensory information with knowledge gained from previous
experience.
Integration of both approaches
● Constructivists emphasize the importance of prior knowledge in combination
with relatively simple and ambiguous information from the sensory receptors.
● In contrast, direct perception theorists emphasize the completeness of the
information in the receptors themselves. They suggest that perception occurs
simply and directly.
● We likely use a combination of information from the sensory receptors and
our past knowledge to make sense of what we perceive.
● Some experimental evidence supports this integrated view (Treue, 2003; van
Zoest & Donk, 2004; Wolfe et al., 2003)
Visual processing
Visual processing
● The first layer of neuronal tissue is the layer of ganglion cells, whose axons
constitute the optic nerve.
● The second layer consists of three kinds of interneuron cells.
➔ Amacrine cells and horizontal cells make single lateral (i.e., horizontal)
connections among adjacent areas of the retina in the middle layer of cells.
➔ Bipolar cells make dual connections forward and outward to the ganglion cells, as
well as backward and inward to the third layer of retinal cells.
➔ The third layer of the retina contains the photoreceptors (rods and cons) which
convert light energy into electrochemical energy that is transmitted by neurons to
the brain.
Visual processing
● The neurochemical messages processed by the rods and cones of the retina
travel via the bipolar cells to the ganglion cells
● The axons of the ganglion cells in the eye collectively form the optic nerve for
that eye. The optic nerves of the two eyes join at the base of the brain to form
the optic chiasma
● The what pathway can be found in the ventral stream and is responsible for
the identification of objects.
● The how pathway is located in the dorsal stream and controls movements in
relation to the objects that have been identified through the “what” pathway.
Visual processing pathways
The information from the primary visual cortex is forwarded through two fasciculi
(fiber bundles):
● One ascends toward the parietal lobe (along the dorsal pathway), and
● One descends to the temporal lobe (along the ventral pathway).
● The dorsal pathway is also called the where pathway and is responsible for
processing location and motion information;
● the ventral pathway is called the what pathway because it is mainly
responsible for processing the color, shape, and identity of visual stimuli.
Visual processing
● Most of the signals from the retina travel out of the eye in the optic nerve to
the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in the thalamus.
● From here, signals travel to the primary visual receiving area in the occipital
lobe (striate cortex)
● From the striate cortex, signals are transmitted along two pathways, one to
the temporal lobe and the other to the parietal lobe.
● Visual signals also reach areas in the frontal lobe and
● Superior colliculus, involved in controlling eye movements and other visual
behaviors
The pathway that the neural signals follow once they leave the retina
The pathway that the neural signals follow once they leave the retina

● The main pathway between the eye and the cortex is the
retina-geniculate- striate pathway.
● It transmits information from the retina to V1 and then V2 via the
lateral geniculate nuclei (LGNs) of the thalamus.
● Retinopy: retinal receptor cells are mapped to points on the surface of
the visual cortex.
RETINOPY
Processing in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus
● Major function of the LGN is to regulate neural information as it flows from the
retina to the visual cortex.
● 90% of the fibers in the optic nerve arrive at the LGN and the other 10 %
travel to the superior colliculus.
● LGN receives more input back from the cortex than it receives from the retina.
For every 10 nerve impulses the LGN receives from the retina, it sends only 4
to the cortex.
● The signals arriving at the LGN are sorted and organized based on the eye
they came from, the receptors that generated them, and the type of
environmental information that is represented in them.
Information relays from the
thalamus to the primary visual cortex (Area
V1). Visual information passes to the
secondary areas of visual processing
(V1–V8) where aspects of color, form, and
motion are processed. From there it is
analyzed in parallel streams through the
ventral temporal (“What”) and the dorsal
parietal areas (“Where”)
Visual deficits
● Damage to area V1 causes cortical blindness, or hemianopia, in the opposite
visual field.
● people with cortical blindness are sometimes able to indicate that a stimulus
is present, that it has moved, or that it is in a certain location, even though
they have no conscious ability to “see” in the conventional sense. This
phenomenon is termed blindsight
● If area V1 is damaged in both hemispheres, complete blindness will occur.
Visual deficits
● Damage to V4 results in achromatopsia, the complete loss of ability to detect
color.
● Lesions to area V5 result in akinetopsia, or the specific inability to identify
objects in motion.
● Damage to areas V3-V5 can result in a general inability to perceive form. In
this situation, patients may be able to make a perfect copy of a drawing, but
are totally unable to understand that the connection of lines corresponds to a
specific shape or object.
Consequences of lesions in area V1.

The bluedark areas indicate the regions of

visual loss. (A)

The effect of a complete lesion of area V1

in the left hemisphere is hemianopia
affecting the right visual field. (B)

A large lesion of the lower lip of the

calcarine fissure produces a
quadrantanopia that affects most of the
upper-right visual quadrant. (C)

A smaller lesion of the lower lip of the

calcarine fissure results in a smaller injury,
a scotoma.
Higher visual processing: Object recognition and spatial localization

★ The ventral processing stream (what pathway) is perceptually specialized for

higher aspects of visual object recognition as it helps connect the visual
perception of shape and form with the representation of that object’s meaning.
★ It contains interconnected regions from the occipital lobes to the temporal
lobes.
★ The visual processing stream of the left hemisphere is more specific to
recognizing symbolic objects such as letters and numbers.
★ The left ventral occipital lobe shows increased blood flow when people
process strings of letters (Snyder, Petersen, Fox, & Raichle, 1989).
★ The right ventral system is more specific to the global recognition of objects
and faces and damage to this system can result in visual agnosia.
Higher visual processing: Object recognition and spatial localization

● The dorsal processing stream (where pathway) is essential for visually

localizing objects in space and for appreciating the relative relation of those
objects to each other.
● Through reciprocal feedback to the motor system, this also helps in planning
and coordinating motor movements.
● This stream of integrated structures connects the occipital to the parietal
lobes.
● Disorders of this system contribute to right–left discrimination problems,
constructional apraxia, and neglect.
Higher visual processing: Object recognition and spatial localization

● Directional impairment, a form of spatial relations confusion, is usually

referred to as a right–left discrimination problem.
● Patients with this kind of difficulty routinely get lost if left on their own,
particularly in a new environment.
● An inability to perform voluntary actions, termed constructional apraxia, is the
inability to perform actions that require three-dimensional movement, such as
building a tower from blocks
Disorders of the ventral stream (inferior temporal lobe)
● People with visual object agnosia may fail to recognize objects at all, or in
milder cases, confuse objects that they observe from different angles or in
different lighting conditions.
● Prosopagnosia refers to the special case of inability to recognize people by
their faces, even though the person can often recognize people by other
means such as gait or tone of voice
● Damage to the left inferior temporal lobe results in pure alexia in which
individuals can often identify individual letters but cannot put the letters
together to read them as whole words
● People with visual agnosias can see and it is a higher perceptual disorder of
“knowing.” ( The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat)
Dr. P, a music teacher who can no longer recognize objects or people by sight.
Presented with a red rose, Dr. P “took it like a botanist or morphologist given a
specimen, not like a person given a flower. ‘About six inches in length,’ he commented.
‘A convoluted red form with a linear green attachment.’” Dr. P was completely unable to
name what he had in his hand until it was suggested to him to smell it. “‘Beautiful!’ he
exclaimed. ‘An early rose. What a heavenly smell!’ He started to hum [the German tune]
“Die Rose, die Lilie. . . .” (Sacks, 1987, pp. 13–14).

Dr. P’s affliction was that he was visually unaware of the totality or gestalt of objects. He
could see and identify form and color but could not combine these aspects into a higher
sense of meaning that is a rose. His only visual reality was a mechanistic identification
of features. This is typical of how visual agnosia primarily involves the processes
necessary for object recognition or object meaning while leaving intact elementary visual
processes. Also, Dr. P’s agnosia, as is usually the case, was modality specific. Although
his visual knowing was impaired, a higher sense of knowing was available through
sense of smell. Dr. P also had no problem in recognizing people by their voices.
Disorders of the ventral stream: Visual agnosias
● Apperceptive agnosia: deficits in object perception, or the inability to combine
the individual aspects of visual information such as line, shape, color, and
form together to form a “whole” percept. They seem to see in bits and pieces.
● Associative visual agnosics have difficulty to varying degrees in assigning
meaning to an object.
● Even though they can recognize differences in form between pictures of a pair
of scissors and a paper punch by matching the scissors to a like pair in a
display of office objects (with which an apperceptive agnosic would have
difficulty), they have lost the link between the visual percept and the semantic
meaning.
Disorders of the ventral stream: Visual agnosias

● In both cases, if shown a pair of scissors, neither the apperceptive nor the associative
agnosic can correctly name “scissors.”
● But although the associative agnosic can pick out a pair of scissors, she or he shows
difficulties not only in naming but in explaining or demonstrating the use for scissors.
● The most common site of damage in apperceptive agnosia is the parieto-occipital area of
the right hemisphere.
● If both hemispheres are involved, then the patient may have Balint’s syndrome, disturbance
in visually guided reaching, an inability to systematically scan the environment or fixate the
eyes on an object, and an inability to be aware of more than one object at a time
Disorders of th
Tests for apperceptive agnosia.

● Apperceptive agnosics have difficulty

recognizing

(a) fragmented objects,

(b) entangled object, and

(c) objects seen from unusual views.

Disorders of the ventral stream (posterior parietal lobe)

● Another disorder associated with damage to the posterior parietal cortex is

visual extinction.
● Individuals can perceive an object anywhere in their visual fields. However,
when two objects are presented, one in the left and one in the right visual
field, affected individuals will ignore the object that is located in the visual field
contralateral to the damaged site.
Disorders of the ventral stream
● In associative agnosia, Some people have little apperceptive difficulty and can
draw or copy pictures of objects in great detail but cannot name them
● A left hemisphere parietooccipital lesion may be enough to cause an
associative agnosia, although it can also occur in the presence of a right
occipital lesion.
Disorders of the ventral stream (posterior parietal lobe)
Her drawing is full of mislocations
and misorientations, mistakes that
indicate that her disorder involves
localizing parts of an object relative to
each other.
Visual form agnosia
● It was cold in the bathroom, so the young woman turned on a small heater before she
got in the shower. She didn't know that the heater was malfunctioning, filling the room
with deadly, odorless carbon monoxide gas. Her husband found her unconscious on the
floor and called for an ambulance to rush her to the emergency room. When she
regained consciousness, "D.F." seemed to have gotten off lightly, avoiding what could
have been a fatal accident. She could understand the doctors' questions and reply
sensibly, move all her limbs, and perceive touch on her skin. But something was wrong
with her sight.
● D.F. had lost the ability to identify things that she viewed. Even the faces of family
members had become unfamiliar. More than a decade later, D.F. still could not
recognize commonplace objects, yet she was not entirely blind. If you showed her a
flashlight, she could tell you that it was made of shiny aluminum with some red plastic,
but she didn't recognize it ("Is it a kitchen utensil?"). Without telling her what it was, if
you asked her to pick it up, her hand moved directly to grasp the flashlight exactly as
one normally does. Shown a slot in a piece of plastic, D.F. could not tell you whether the
slot was oriented vertically, horizontally, or diagonally; but if you handed her a disk and
asked her to put it through the slot, she invariably turned the disk so that it went
smoothly through (Goodale et al., 1991).
When D.F. reached for and grasped objects, her fMRI activation in the parietal
lobe was similar to that of control participants, indicating that her dorsal stream is
largely intact. D.F.'s intact dorsal pathway not only tells her where objects are, but
also guides her movements to use these objects properly.
Disorders of the ventral stream

● Damage to the right parieto-occipital or inferior parietal area is the

most common site of damage for an odd type of inattention termed
neglect.
● when reading, they may leave out the left side of words or pages.
● Their copied drawings focus on the right side of pictures.
Disorders of the ventral stream:right parietal lobe
Contralateral neglect

● Mr. P., a 67-year-old man, had suffered a right parietal stroke. At the time of our first seeing
him (24 hours after admission), he had no visual-field defect. He did, however, have a
variety of other symptoms: Mr. P. neglected the left side of his body and of the world. When
asked to lift up his arms, he failed to lift his left arm but could do so if one took his arm and
asked him to lift it. When asked to draw a clock face, he crowded all the numbers onto the
right side of the clock. When asked to read compound words such as ice cream and
football, he read cream and ball. When he dressed, he did not attempt to put on the left side
of his clothing (a form of dressing apraxia) and when he shaved, he shaved only the right
side of his face. He ignored tactile sensation on the left side of his body. Finally, he
appeared unaware that anything was wrong with him and was uncertain what all the fuss
was about (anosagnosia). Collectively, these symptoms constitute contralateral neglect.
Primary visual cortex
● The patient was a healthy 39- year-old right-handed man who, because of an explosion,
was hit by a projectile steel nut that penetrated his skull in the right parietal occipital area.
“This man could perceptually recognize objects, identify colors, and discriminate right and
left. He also had no problems in spatial depth perception and size constancy. But the
patient himself alerted his doctors that he was having trouble finding his way through the
hallways on the way to the bathroom and was having trouble reading the time. He said he
had to read each hand of the clock separately and then figure out the time.
● Staff observed him to collide “with objects on his left which he had clearly perceived a few
moments before. He was liable at table to knock over dishes on his left-hand side and
occasionally missed food on the left of his plate. He commonly failed to attend to the
left-hand page in turning the pages of a book and reading lines of disconnected words
commonly omitted the first word or two” (Paterson & Zangwill, 1944, p. 339).
Parallel processing pathways
Processing of Color: Ventral stream

● The pathway for color processing begins with cones and ends in the inferior
temporal and frontal lobes.
● Information about color is relayed to the V1 by way of parvocellular neurons in
the LGN and from there, color information is sent to the thin stripes in V2 and,
from there, to V4.
● Neurons in V4 appear to analyze the wavelength of objects and make
wavelength comparisons among objects in the visual field.
● This information is then relayed to the inferior temporal and frontal lobes for
further processing.
Processing of Color: Evidence (fMRI, Zeki and Marini (1998))

● When the subjects were exposed to colored objects, a pathway extending from V1 to V4,
the inferior temporal and frontal lobes were activated.
● However, different areas of the frontal lobe were activated, depending on whether the
objects were colored appropriately or inappropriately.
● For example, when the men were shown red strawberries, V1, V2, V4, the inferior
temporal cortex, the hippocampus, and an area on the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were
activated.
● When the men were shown blue strawberries, the activated areas included V1, V2, V4,
the inferior temporal cortex, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
● The hippocampus was most likely activated with red strawberries because the
appropriately colored strawberries stimulated a memory process.
● The abnormally colored objects activated the dorsolateral frontal cortex, whereas the
normally colored objects activated the ventrolateral frontal cortex, which demonstrates
that the frontal lobe plays a role in analyzing the color of objects in our visual space.
Processing of Form: Ventral stream

● V3 appears to be the area that is primarily responsible for form perception.

● Information from V3 is relayed to the inferior temporal cortex, where the forms are
further analyzed and identified.
● Identification of objects occurs in the inferior temporal lobe
● Studies measuring functional MRI responses to visual stimuli have demonstrated
that one region of the inferior temporal lobe located on the border between the
temporal and occipital lobes, called the fusiform face area, is activated strongly
when a human subject views pictures of faces, but responds weakly when the
person views pictures of other classes of objects (Druzgal & D’Esposito, 2001).
● A medial region of the inferior temporal cortex, called the parahippocampal place
area, is activated strongly by photographs of indoor and outdoor scenes, but is not
activated at all by faces (Hudson & Grace, 2000).
Processing of Form (Hubel & Wiesel, 1962)

● Information about orientation, lines, and edges is sent to the brain via
the parvocellular and magnocellular pathways.
● V1 neurons are sensitive to the orientation and features of objects.
● Different neurons in V1 respond to different types of stimuli.
● Simple cells are thought to be part of the parvo- system, with its
emphasis on form, and complex cells can be considered part of the
magno- system, with its emphasis on movement.
● A third type of neuron in V1 is the hypercomplex cell, preferring stimuli
with a particular length or width in a particular orientation.
Processing of motion

● Rods can rapidly detect visual events, which makes them especially
sensitive to motion.
● Information about motion is relayed to the V1 by way of the
magnocellular pathway.
● From V1, this information is sent to the thick stripes of V2 and on to V5,
which is located in the temporal lobe, adjacent to area V4.
● Axons from area V5 project to the posterior parietal lobe, where
information about motion is analyzed.
Processing of depth and spatial relations

● The ability to move through the environment or to reach for an item

requires a visual system that allows us to accurately perceive the
location of objects in three dimensional space (Lappin & Craft, 2000).
● Rods and cones both register information about spatial relations.
● This information reaches V1 by way of the parvocellular and
magnocellular pathways and is then relayed to V3, V5, and other areas
of the visual cortex
● From V3 and V5, the information about depth and spatial relations is
transmitted to the posterior parietal cortex, where the location of objects
in space is determined.
Processing of depth and spatial relations

● The superior colliculus, also processes the location of objects

in the environment.
● Anatomical studies have indicated that the superior colliculus
projects directly to V5
● Thus, information received by the superior colliculus is shared
with neurons in the posterior parietal lobe that process
location in three-dimensional space.
Auditory processing
Pathways to the auditory cortex

● The auditory system contains mechanical receptors designed to detect sound frequency.
● These hairlike receptors are located in the fluid of the long, coiled, snail-like cochlea of
the inner ear. As the mechanical mechanisms of the middle ear respond to external
sound waves, they cause vibrations in the fluid of the inner ear, thus vibrating the hairs of
the auditory receptors.
● These receptors synapse with the auditory nerve.
● The auditory nerve from each ear projects to the cochlear nuclei of the medulla.
● From there, each pathway branches to project auditory information to superior olivary
nuclei of the medulla.
● In this way, the auditory system differs from the visual system in that each hemisphere
receives input from both ears, resulting in bilateral representation of sound.
● This may help the person localize sound in space.
Pathways to the auditory cortex
● The auditory pathways then course through the lower brainstem and
ascend through the thalamus, where they are projected to the primary
auditory cortex
● The primary auditory cortex of each hemisphere lies deep within the
temporal lobe
● This area is commonly termed Heschl’s gyrus which processes the
“fragments” of sound
● A tonotopic map projects onto the auditory cortex, similar to the retinotopic
map of the visual system.
● The primary auditory cortex processes several elements of sound.
● In addition to frequency, the features of sound include loudness, timbre,
duration, and change.
Pathways to the auditory cortex
Pathways to the auditory cortex
● Both the cochlear nucleus and the superior olive send projections to the
inferior colliculus in the dorsal midbrain.
● Two distinct pathways emerge from the inferior colliculus, coursing to the
medial geniculate nucleus, which lies in the thalamus.
● The ventral region of the medial geniculate nucleus projects to the primary
auditory cortex (area A1), whereas the dorsal region projects to the auditory
cortical regions adjacent to area A1.
● After the primary auditory cortex processes sound features, they are
integrated into understandable speech sounds in the secondary auditory
processing area commonly known as Wernicke’s area.
Auditory cortex
● In humans, the primary auditory cortex (A1) lies within Heschl’s gyrus and is
surrounded by secondary cortical areas (A2)
Auditory deficits
● Damage to the left hemisphere auditory processing areas results in the partial
or total inability to decipher spoken words known as receptive aphasia, or
Wernicke’s aphasia.
● However, people with receptive aphasia can often still recognize the
emotional tone of language, because the speaker’s intent, such as anger,
sarcasm, or humor, is processed as voice intonation
● In right hemisphere damage, the patient accepts words at face value but
loses the nuances of jokes and emotional intention and impaired harmonic
and melodic ability.
The somatosensory system

● Includes two types of sensory stimulation, external and internal.

● This system can monitor sensations such as cold and heat, whether the
sensation comes from handling an ice cube or from a fever.
● Thus, the system processes external stimulation of touch (pressure, shape,
texture, heat) in recognizing objects by feel and is also concerned with the
position of the body in extrapersonal space, termed proprioception
The mechano-sensory systems
● Mechanical receptors transduce energy from touch, vibration, and the
stretching and bending of skin, muscle, internal organs, and blood vessels
● The pain and temperature system (also called the nociceptive system) warns
of potentially harmful mechanical or thermal stimuli.
● For example, hair follicle receptors sense breezes or a brush of fern across
the skin.
● Chemoreceptors respond to various chemicals on the surface of the skin and
mucous membranes.
● They range from detecting level of stomach acidity to skin irritations. Smell
and taste are special examples of chemoreception
The mechano-sensory systems
● Thermoreceptors detect heat and cold.
● Nocioceptors serve as monitors to alert the brain to damage or threat of
damage.
● They can be mechanical or chemical, but are specifically activated by
potentially damaging stimulation such as heat or cold, painful pressure or
pricking, or chemical damage such as exposure to noxious chemicals.
● Proprioceptors on skeletal muscles detect movement via degree of stretch,
angle, and relative position of limbs. Proprioceptors on the hands help identify
the shapes of objects via touch.
The somatosensory pathways
● The somatosensory receptors synapse with neurons into two primary
pathways that transmit information from the spinal cord to the thalamus
● In each case, sensory information travels to the contralateral hemisphere from
the point of origin.
● The first pathway, the ascending spinal-thalamic tract, carries sensory
information related to pain and temperature and runs parallel to the spinal
cord.
● It synapses over a wide region of the thalamus, and then to the
somatosensory cortex.
The somatosensory pathways
● The second pathway is the medial lemniscal pathway, which carries
information pertaining to touch and vibration.
● It is routed up the dorsal aspects of the spinal cord to a white matter tract
termed the medial lemniscus, which courses through the contralateral side of
the brainstem through the medulla, pons, and midbrain, and then up through
the thalamus and on to the primary somatosensory cortex.
The somatosensory pathways
● From the primary somatosensory cortex, sensory information is then
integrated at the next level in the secondary somatosensory cortex
● There, the individual properties of tactile stimuli such as shape, weight, and
texture are combined to form the perception of single and whole percepts
such as “pencil,” “coin,” or “key” that can be recognized by feel.
● Damage to this area may result in astereognosia, even though the person
may readily recognize objects by sight.
● Alterations in sensory processing is the “cross-wiring” of senses called
synesthesia
● One woman reported that tasting lemon is like “points pressing against the
face,” and spearmint feels like “cool glass columns.”
● The source of synesthesia emanates specifically from the limbic system.
The somatosensory deficits
● Damage interrupting higher level somatosensory integration in the parietal
area, particularly the right parietal lobe, may result in a problem variously
referred to as tactile suppression, tactile extinction, or tactile inattention.
● In this instance of right parietal damage, a person does not report the
sensation of touch on the left hand (that is, left-sided suppression) when the
left and right hands are touched simultaneously, although he or she may
accurately report a left-sided touch when that hand is touched in isolation.
● Left-sided touch is suppressed or extinguished when there is competing
sensation from both sides of the body.
The somatosensory deficits
In Oliver Sacks’s case of the “Disembodied Lady” (Sacks, 1987), a young
woman of 37, suffering a sensory neuritis, had the feeling of “losing” parts of
her body if she could not see them; that is, she experienced the feeling of
total disembodiment. Having no natural posture, her movements became a
caricature of types, such as a dancer’s pose.

An example of a disorder of proprioception: tactile disorder in that the sensory

problem is one of recognizing the relative position of one’s own body in
space, rather than the recognition of objects external to oneself

Phantom limb pain: a feeling of pain in a nonexistent limb

Olfactory processing
Olfactory sensation
● The axons of the olfactory-receptor cells synapse in the olfactory bulb, which
is made up of several layers.
● The major output of the bulb is the lateral olfactory tract, which passes to the
pyriform cortex, the amygdala, and the entorhinal cortex
Olfactory processing
● The primary projections of the olfactory system innervate the limbic system
directly through the amygdala and hippocampal formation before passing
through the relay station of the thalamus, and then into the frontal cortex and
onto other areas of the neocortex.
● Because of this connection, the effect of scent on emotion and mood is
instantaneous and is most intensely processed preconsciously.
● Parallel thalamic projections to the frontal lobes are responsible for conscious
recognition of scent. The cortex can then elaborate and refine the perception
of aroma
Olfactory deficits
● Together with the amygdala, hippocampus Anosmia: total loss of smell
appear to be responsible for coding much
Dysosmia: distorted smell sensation
of the emotional tone of memories.
● Diminution of olfactory ability is an early Phantosmia: experience of a phantom or
sign of diseases of accelerated aging, hallucinatory smell
such as Alzheimer’s disease and
Parkinson’s disease (Doty, 1990). Also,
schizophrenics often have a distorted
sense of smell.