Visual perception and processing mechanisms

Connecting the dots - Recognition of artificial and natural shapes relies on representing points of high information

The paper investigates whether the visual system prioritizes curvature extrema or high-surprisal points in shape representation, finding that high-surprisal points yield better performance in shape matching tasks.

Preserving predictive information under biologically plausible compression

The paper investigates how retinal ganglion cell activity can be compressed while preserving predictive information for downstream brain areas.

Gravitational expectations simultaneously attract and repel perception

The paper investigates how gravitational expectations influence perception, showing that they both attract and repel perceptual judgments in different contexts.

Wide dynamic range of contrast-encoding in neural responses in macaque V1

This study measures contrast-encoding in macaque V1 using Gaussian stimuli across a wide contrast range, finding that neural responses continue to increase beyond 100% Weber contrast.

Hard-to-beat animacy perception: EEG evidence of accurate animate-inanimate distinction for ambiguous objects

The paper uses EEG to show that humans accurately distinguish animate from inanimate objects, even when objects resemble animals, and that this ability is not affected by the degree of animal-like appearance.

Gaze shifts in freely moving mice comprise distinct head-eye coordination motifs

This paper identifies distinct head-eye coordination motifs during gaze shifts in freely moving mice and highlights HwE as an active coordination mode.

Multidimensional feature tuning in category-selective areas of human visual cortex

This study identifies multidimensional tuning in human visual cortex, showing that category-selective areas encode both subcategory features and cross-category distinctions, supporting both local and global coding.

Predictive Networks Generate Motion-Induced Color Illusions

The paper uses predictive neural networks to generate motion-induced color illusions and shows that moving object colors influence these illusions.

Parvalbumin-expressing interneurons improve sensory discrimination by shaping noise geometry in primate V1

This study shows that parvalbumin-expressing interneurons in primate V1 improve sensory discrimination by altering noise geometry without increasing signal magnitude.

Cross-cue reconstruction of perceived 3D object structure from human visual cortex

This paper decodes 3D object structure from human visual cortex activity using a pretrained 3D autoencoder and shows cross-cue generalization across depth cues and object categories.

Spatial generalization of peripherally encoded memories emerges before selection for report

The paper investigates the time course of spatial generalization in visual working memory, finding early stages occur at sensory levels before report selection.

High-level visual areas act like domain-general filters with strong selectivity and functional specialization

The paper uses hypothesis-neutral models to show that higher visual areas exhibit category selectivity without explicit training on those categories.

Dynamic Reversal of IT-PFC Information Flow Orchestrates Visual Categorization Under Perceptual Uncertainty

The paper investigates how information flow between the inferotemporal (IT) cortex and prefrontal cortex (PFC) changes with perceptual certainty, finding that feedback from PFC to IT dominates under uncertainty.

Distinct Roles of Central and Peripheral Vision in Rapid Scene Understanding

This study investigates how central and peripheral vision loss affect scene understanding and eye movements using gaze-contingent simulations, finding that peripheral loss more severely impairs scene semantics while central loss disrupts oculomotor behavior.

Reassessing Choice Probability: What 59 Macaque Studies Tell Us About Decision-Related Activity in Visual Cortex

This study analyzes 59 macaque studies to assess factors influencing choice probability, finding consistent patterns across tasks and regions with exceptions in bistable percepts and area V1.

Multi-stage efficient coding of perception and value in goal-directed behavior

The paper investigates how efficient coding operates in perception and valuation stages of goal-directed behavior, finding that both stages use separate efficient codes that interact to shape behavior.

MARINER: a surround visual stimulator for vision research in aquatic animals

MARINER is a visual stimulator for aquatic animals that improves underwater visual stimulation and reveals new insights into larval zebrafish visual field and colorblindness during optokinetic responses.

Critical flicker fusion thresholds predict attentional blink magnitude

The paper finds that critical flicker fusion thresholds predict attentional blink magnitude but not global motion sensitivity in non-clinical samples.

Dynamic trajectory cues drive sequenced integration in approach detectors

The paper shows that luminance cues alone can trigger approach perception in humans and fruit flies, revealing a cross-species percept and demonstrating sequenced integration of cues in neural circuits.

Spatiotemporal Divergence Between Intrinsic And Evoked Cortical Activity Predicts Visual Detection.

The paper shows that the divergence in excitability between intrinsic and evoked cortical activity in non-encoding populations better predicts visual detection performance than evoked response magnitude.

Precision-Weighted Updating Explains Serial Dependence Across Sensory and Contextual Transitions

The paper investigates serial dependence in time reproduction tasks, finding that sensory uncertainty and contextual continuity influence temporal perception through a shared precision-weighted updating mechanism.

Consciously detecting and recognizing a past visual word after its sensory trace is gone

The paper tests whether conscious perception can occur without sensory input by using masked words and auditory cues, finding that semantic awareness can occur without visual features.

Foveal vision in fast-flying birds hunting on the wing

This paper examines the structural adaptations in the visual systems of swifts and swallows that enable high-speed aerial prey capture, revealing specialized foveal structures similar to primates.

Beyond the Focus of Expansion: Retinal curl as a functional signal for heading estimation.

The paper shows that retinal curl from fixations, not the Focus of Expansion, drives heading perception, with biases reversing when curl is manipulated.

A modular neural circuit for computing the motion of objects

The paper identifies a modular neural circuit in macaque visual cortex that computes object motion by integrating component edge signals into pattern motion representations.

Scene Structure Predicts Perceptual Decisions in Naturalistic Detection Tasks

This study shows that perceptual decisions in natural scenes are influenced by background context, with texture entropy and edge density as key features, supported by psychophysics, AR, DNNs, and EEG.

Visual cortical dynamics supporting predictable attentional capture

The paper investigates how predictable visual stimuli influence cortical processing and attentional capture in macaques, finding distinct mechanisms for target enhancement and distractor suppression.

Spontaneous perceptual reversals are accompanied by systematic changes in pupil size but not respiration phase

The paper examines the relationship between respiration, pupil size, and spontaneous perceptual reversals, finding no direct alignment of respiration to reversals but a predictive link between respiration frequency and perceptual stability.

Disambiguation of two-tone images aligns object representations in the EEG

This study shows that EEG responses to two-tone images align with photo counterparts after disambiguation, indicating learned conceptual processing over physical features.

Intrinsic Population Dynamics are a Neuronal Substrate for Visual Attention

The paper identifies intrinsic population dynamics in the superior colliculus that modulate visuospatial attention and enhance visual responses during a detection task.