Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.

The anterior inferotemporal cortex (IT) is the highest stage along the hierarchy of visual areas that, in primates, processes visual objects. Although several lines of evidence suggest that IT primarily represents visual shape information, some recent studies have argued that neuronal ensembles in I...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Carlo Baldassi, Alireza Alemi-Neissi, Marino Pagan, James J Dicarlo, Riccardo Zecchina, Davide Zoccolan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/359d654a9d32401f80700e07e74ac07d
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:359d654a9d32401f80700e07e74ac07d
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:359d654a9d32401f80700e07e74ac07d2021-11-18T05:53:41ZShape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.1553-734X1553-735810.1371/journal.pcbi.1003167https://doaj.org/article/359d654a9d32401f80700e07e74ac07d2013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23950700/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1553-734Xhttps://doaj.org/toc/1553-7358The anterior inferotemporal cortex (IT) is the highest stage along the hierarchy of visual areas that, in primates, processes visual objects. Although several lines of evidence suggest that IT primarily represents visual shape information, some recent studies have argued that neuronal ensembles in IT code the semantic membership of visual objects (i.e., represent conceptual classes such as animate and inanimate objects). In this study, we investigated to what extent semantic, rather than purely visual information, is represented in IT by performing a multivariate analysis of IT responses to a set of visual objects. By relying on a variety of machine-learning approaches (including a cutting-edge clustering algorithm that has been recently developed in the domain of statistical physics), we found that, in most instances, IT representation of visual objects is accounted for by their similarity at the level of shape or, more surprisingly, low-level visual properties. Only in a few cases we observed IT representations of semantic classes that were not explainable by the visual similarity of their members. Overall, these findings reassert the primary function of IT as a conveyor of explicit visual shape information, and reveal that low-level visual properties are represented in IT to a greater extent than previously appreciated. In addition, our work demonstrates how combining a variety of state-of-the-art multivariate approaches, and carefully estimating the contribution of shape similarity to the representation of object categories, can substantially advance our understanding of neuronal coding of visual objects in cortex.Carlo BaldassiAlireza Alemi-NeissiMarino PaganJames J DicarloRiccardo ZecchinaDavide ZoccolanPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleBiology (General)QH301-705.5ENPLoS Computational Biology, Vol 9, Iss 8, p e1003167 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Carlo Baldassi Alireza Alemi-Neissi Marino Pagan James J Dicarlo Riccardo Zecchina Davide Zoccolan Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
description	The anterior inferotemporal cortex (IT) is the highest stage along the hierarchy of visual areas that, in primates, processes visual objects. Although several lines of evidence suggest that IT primarily represents visual shape information, some recent studies have argued that neuronal ensembles in IT code the semantic membership of visual objects (i.e., represent conceptual classes such as animate and inanimate objects). In this study, we investigated to what extent semantic, rather than purely visual information, is represented in IT by performing a multivariate analysis of IT responses to a set of visual objects. By relying on a variety of machine-learning approaches (including a cutting-edge clustering algorithm that has been recently developed in the domain of statistical physics), we found that, in most instances, IT representation of visual objects is accounted for by their similarity at the level of shape or, more surprisingly, low-level visual properties. Only in a few cases we observed IT representations of semantic classes that were not explainable by the visual similarity of their members. Overall, these findings reassert the primary function of IT as a conveyor of explicit visual shape information, and reveal that low-level visual properties are represented in IT to a greater extent than previously appreciated. In addition, our work demonstrates how combining a variety of state-of-the-art multivariate approaches, and carefully estimating the contribution of shape similarity to the representation of object categories, can substantially advance our understanding of neuronal coding of visual objects in cortex.
format	article
author	Carlo Baldassi Alireza Alemi-Neissi Marino Pagan James J Dicarlo Riccardo Zecchina Davide Zoccolan
author_facet	Carlo Baldassi Alireza Alemi-Neissi Marino Pagan James J Dicarlo Riccardo Zecchina Davide Zoccolan
author_sort	Carlo Baldassi
title	Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
title_short	Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
title_full	Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
title_fullStr	Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
title_full_unstemmed	Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
title_sort	shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/359d654a9d32401f80700e07e74ac07d
work_keys_str_mv	AT carlobaldassi shapesimilaritybetterthansemanticmembershipaccountsforthestructureofvisualobjectrepresentationsinapopulationofmonkeyinferotemporalneurons AT alirezaalemineissi shapesimilaritybetterthansemanticmembershipaccountsforthestructureofvisualobjectrepresentationsinapopulationofmonkeyinferotemporalneurons AT marinopagan shapesimilaritybetterthansemanticmembershipaccountsforthestructureofvisualobjectrepresentationsinapopulationofmonkeyinferotemporalneurons AT jamesjdicarlo shapesimilaritybetterthansemanticmembershipaccountsforthestructureofvisualobjectrepresentationsinapopulationofmonkeyinferotemporalneurons AT riccardozecchina shapesimilaritybetterthansemanticmembershipaccountsforthestructureofvisualobjectrepresentationsinapopulationofmonkeyinferotemporalneurons AT davidezoccolan shapesimilaritybetterthansemanticmembershipaccountsforthestructureofvisualobjectrepresentationsinapopulationofmonkeyinferotemporalneurons
_version_	1718424658500386816

Shape similarity, better than semantic membership, accounts for the structure of visual object representations in a population of monkey inferotemporal neurons.

Ejemplares similares