Figure–ground segregation requires two distinct periods of activity in V1: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

Discriminating objects from their surroundings by the visual system is known as figure–ground segregation. This process entails two different subprocesses: boundary detection and subsequent surface segregation or ‘filling in’. In this study, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation to test the hypothesis that temporally distinct processes in V1 and related early visual areas such as V2 or V3 are causally related to the process of figure–ground segregation. Our results indicate that correct discrimination between two visual stimuli, which relies on figure–ground segregation, requires two separate periods of information processing in the early visual cortex: one around 130–160 ms and the other around 250–280 ms.

[1]  M. Tovée.  Neuronal Processing: How fast is the speed of thought? , 1994, Current Biology.

[2]  Jerry Potter.  Scene segmentation , 1975, SGAR.

[3]  W Paulus,et al.  Differential inhibition of chromatic and achromatic perception by transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human visual cortex. , 1999, Neuroreport.

[4]  Á. Pascual-Leone,et al.  Fast Backprojections from the Motion to the Primary Visual Area Necessary for Visual Awareness , 2001, Science.

[5]  H. Spekreijse,et al.  FigureGround Segregation in a Recurrent Network Architecture , 2002, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[6]  Chi-Hung Juan,et al.  Feedback to V1: a reverse hierarchy in vision , 2003, Experimental Brain Research.

[7]  J. M. Hupé,et al.  Cortical feedback improves discrimination between figure and background by V1, V2 and V3 neurons , 1998, Nature.

[8]  E. Rolls,et al.  The Neurophysiology of Backward Visual Masking: Information Analysis , 1999, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[9]  Victor A. F. Lamme,et al.  Feedforward, horizontal, and feedback processing in the visual cortex , 1998, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[10]  K Nakayama,et al.  Stereoscopic Depth: Its Relation to Image Segmentation, Grouping, and the Recognition of Occluded Objects , 1989, Perception.

[11]  V. Amassian,et al.  Measurement of information processing delays in human visual cortex with repetitive magnetic coil stimulation , 1993, Brain Research.

[12]  B. Julesz,et al.  Texton gradients: The texton theory revisited , 2004, Biological Cybernetics.

[13]  E Corthout,et al.  Timing of activity in early visual cortex as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation. , 1999, Neuroreport.

[14]  H. Jones,et al.  Visual cortical mechanisms detecting focal orientation discontinuities , 1995, Nature.

[15]  Victor A. F. Lamme,et al.  Separate processing dynamics for texture elements, boundaries and surfaces in primary visual cortex of the macaque monkey. , 1999, Cerebral cortex.

[16]  C. Gilbert,et al.  Improvement in visual sensitivity by changes in local context: Parallel studies in human observers and in V1 of alert monkeys , 1995, Neuron.

[17]  J R Lishman,et al.  Visual-evoked responses elicited by the onset and offset of sinusoidal gratings: latency, waveform, and topographic characteristics. , 1982, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[18]  M. Paradiso,et al.  Temporal limits of brightness induction and mechanisms of brightness perception , 1996, Vision Research.

[19]  T. Sejnowski,et al.  Nonlocal interactions in color perception: nonlinear processing of chromatic signals from remote inducers , 2001, Vision Research.

[20]  Alan Cowey,et al.  Chapter 26 Tickling the brain: studying visual sensation, perception and cognition by transcranial magnetic stimulation , 2001 .

[21]  Z Kourtzi,et al.  Representation of Perceived Object Shape by the Human Lateral Occipital Complex , 2001, Science.

[22]  S. Hochstein,et al.  View from the Top Hierarchies and Reverse Hierarchies in the Visual System , 2002, Neuron.

[23]  J. Bullier,et al.  The role of feedback connections in shaping the responses of visual cortical neurons. , 2001, Progress in brain research.

[24]  H Spekreijse,et al.  Modulations of primary visual cortex activity representing attentive and conscious scene perception. , 2000, Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library.

[25]  A. Cowey,et al.  Tickling the brain: studying visual sensation, perception and cognition by transcranial magnetic stimulation. , 2001, Progress in brain research.

[26]  J. Budd.  Extrastriate feedback to primary visual cortex in primates: a quantitative analysis of connectivity , 1998, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.