This project is about the electrical activity of cortical cells and cell populations in the macaque monkey's primary visual cortex, V1--as an animal model of human visual cortex. The investigators will study the cells' responses and cell population responses to visual images that are either continuous, or discontinuous in space. There is preliminary evidence that many V1 cells respond more to image discontinuity than to continuous contours. The proposed experiments, utilizing the technique of multi-microelectrode recording, will investigate more precisely the sensitivity of V1 to image-discontinuities. For instance, one experiment will measure the effect of spatial gaps in a visual image on cortical activity. The results of this experiment will define how much spatial separation is necessary for the V1 network to perceive it as a spatial discontinuity.
It is known that local image features, like line endings and sharp corners, are important for human object recognition and form perception. The proposed project aims to advance scientific understanding of the function of V1 cortex in perception. Also, the experimental results of this project will be useful for realistic computational models of V1 cortex, and models of cerebral cortex generally.
There will also be a broader impact. The project involves training of a postdoctoral fellow and also graduate students for their own future research in neuroscience. Also, the investigators will make the project's multi-electrode recording data available for use by other neuroscientists and by theorists. Furthermore, undergraduate and high school students will perform rotation projects in the investigators' laboratory and will receive training as part of this project.
