Neural Discriminability of Object Features Predicts Perceptual Organization

Abstract

How does the neural representation of simple visual features affect perceptual operations, such as perceptual grouping? If the strength of feature representations in the brain is indicative of how the perceptual system partitions information into visual elements, then identifying the underlying neural representation may determine why things look the way they do. During functional MRI, participants viewed objects that varied along three feature dimensions: shape, color, and orientation. Afterward, participants performed an independent perceptual-grouping task outside the scanner to measure the strength of feature grouping. In lateral occipital cortex, neural feature discriminability, characterized using functional MRI multivariate pattern classification, positively predicted feature grouping strength: The more distinct the neural representations of a particular feature, the stronger the grouping was for that feature outside the scanner. Thus, variation in neural feature representation can be quantified to predict perceptual organization.