Selectively distributed processing of visual object recognition in the temporal and frontal lobes of the human brain

Evoked potentials to visually driven cognitive tasks were recorded through depth electrodes placed bilaterally within the amygdala, hippocampus, midtemporal and inferotemporal cortex, and lateral frontal cortex of 6 epileptic patients. Task‐related differential response patterns were used to identify the recording sites engaged by specific aspects of visual encoding. In this group of 6 patients, the amygdala was most frequently engaged in encoding the familiarity of faces; midtemporal and inferotemporal cortex, in encoding perceptual identity and object categorization; and lateral frontal cortex, in holding visual object information in working memory. The two aspects of encoding that most frequently engaged the hippocampal region were related to working memory and object categorization. The processing of complex visual knowledge is thus anatomically distributed but regionally specialized. These experiments also showed that identical input and output parameters can engage different areas of the brain depending on the nature of the instructional set.

[1]  Leslie G. Ungerleider.  Two cortical visual systems , 1982 .

[2]  G. V. Van Hoesen,et al.  Prosopagnosia , 1982, Neurology.

[3]  E. Rolls,et al.  Neurons in the amygdala of the monkey with responses selective for faces , 1985, Behavioural Brain Research.

[4]  D. Ts'o,et al.  Functional organization of primate visual cortex revealed by high resolution optical imaging. , 1990, Science.

[5]  M M Mesulam,et al.  Large‐scale neurocognitive networks and distributed processing for attention, language, and memory , 1990, Annals of neurology.

[6]  L. Brothers,et al.  Response of neurons in the macaque amygdala to complex social stimuli , 1990, Behavioural Brain Research.

[7]  E. Rolls.  Neural organization of higher visual functions , 1991, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[8]  J G Ojemann,et al.  Neuronal activity related to faces and matching in human right nondominant temporal cortex. , 1992, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[9]  L. Optican,et al.  Role of inferior temporal neurons in visual memory. I. Temporal encoding of information about visual images, recalled images, and behavioral context. , 1992, Journal of neurophysiology.

[10]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  Dissociation of human mid-dorsolateral from posterior dorsolateral frontal cortex in memory processing. , 1993, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[11]  P. Goldman-Rakic,et al.  Dissociation of object and spatial processing domains in primate prefrontal cortex. , 1993, Science.

[12]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  Area V5 of the human brain: evidence from a combined study using positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. , 1993, Cerebral cortex.

[13]  M. Mesulam,et al.  Differential neural activity in the human temporal lobe evoked by faces of family members and friends , 1993, Annals of neurology.

[14]  B L McNaughton,et al.  Dynamics of the hippocampal ensemble code for space. , 1993, Science.

[15]  R. Desimone,et al.  Parallel neuronal mechanisms for short-term memory. , 1994, Science.

[16]  M. Mesulam,et al.  Neurocognitive networks and selectively distributed processing. , 1994, Revue neurologique.