The primary goal of the research proposed is to characterize brain regions involved in tasks known to require a dynamic interaction between circuits involved in the processing of form and those involved in the processing of motion, by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and psychophysical techniques. Two related lines of experimentation are proposed: 1) How are contours analyzed in early visual areas, such that contour and surface completion mechanisms place constraints on motion processing? and 2) What circuitry is involved in form-motion interactions, and is it more than the sum of areas known to process motion or form independently? Both block and event-related designs will be used to address these questions, particularly in early retinotopically organized visual areas. A deeper understanding of how these neuronal circuits interact should shed light on how disparate types of information are bound together in the brain into unified representations, and how local cues generate global percepts. This knowledge could aid in the development of more effective cognitive rehabilitation strategies for the treatment of brain injuries or disorders where circuits fail to interact normally.
| Caplovitz, Gideon P; Barroso, Diego J; Hsieh, Po-Jang et al. (2008) fMRI reveals that non-local processing in ventral retinotopic cortex underlies perceptual grouping by temporal synchrony. Hum Brain Mapp 29:651-61 |
