View in EDS

Binocular viewing geometry shapes the neural representation of the dynamic three-dimensional environment.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Binocular viewing geometry shapes the neural representation of the dynamic three-dimensional environment.
Authors: Bonnen, Kathryn (AUTHOR), Czuba, Thaddeus B. (AUTHOR), Whritner, Jake A. (AUTHOR), Kohn, Adam (AUTHOR), Huk, Alexander C. (AUTHOR), Cormack, Lawrence K. (AUTHOR)
Source: Nature Neuroscience. Jan2020, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p113-121. 9p. 1 Diagram, 6 Graphs.
Abstract: Sensory signals give rise to patterns of neural activity, which the brain uses to infer properties of the environment. For the visual system, considerable work has focused on the representation of frontoparallel stimulus features and binocular disparities. However, inferring the properties of the physical environment from retinal stimulation is a distinct and more challenging computational problem—this is what the brain must actually accomplish to support perception and action. Here we develop a computational model that incorporates projective geometry, mapping the three-dimensional (3D) environment onto the two retinae. We demonstrate that this mapping fundamentally shapes the tuning of cortical neurons and corresponding aspects of perception. For 3D motion, the model explains the strikingly non-canonical tuning present in existing electrophysiological data and distinctive patterns of perceptual errors evident in human behavior. Decoding the world from cortical activity is strongly affected by the geometry that links the environment to the sensory epithelium. Bonnen et al. find that representations of 3D motion in primate cortical neurons have an unexpected structure that is shaped by the projection of the world onto the retinae. They demonstrate a link between this structure and human perceptual errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Nature Neuroscience is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Description
Abstract:Sensory signals give rise to patterns of neural activity, which the brain uses to infer properties of the environment. For the visual system, considerable work has focused on the representation of frontoparallel stimulus features and binocular disparities. However, inferring the properties of the physical environment from retinal stimulation is a distinct and more challenging computational problem—this is what the brain must actually accomplish to support perception and action. Here we develop a computational model that incorporates projective geometry, mapping the three-dimensional (3D) environment onto the two retinae. We demonstrate that this mapping fundamentally shapes the tuning of cortical neurons and corresponding aspects of perception. For 3D motion, the model explains the strikingly non-canonical tuning present in existing electrophysiological data and distinctive patterns of perceptual errors evident in human behavior. Decoding the world from cortical activity is strongly affected by the geometry that links the environment to the sensory epithelium. Bonnen et al. find that representations of 3D motion in primate cortical neurons have an unexpected structure that is shaped by the projection of the world onto the retinae. They demonstrate a link between this structure and human perceptual errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:10976256
DOI:10.1038/s41593-019-0544-7