Abstract
“Invariant object recognition” refers to the ability to recognize objects across variation in their appearance on the retina. This ability is central to visual perception, yet its developmental origins are poorly understood. Traditionally, nonhuman primates, rats, and pigeons have been the most commonly used animal models for studying invariant object recognition. Although these animals have many advantages as model systems, they are not well suited for studying the emergence of invariant object recognition in the newborn brain. Here, we argue that newly hatched chicks (Gallus gallus) are an ideal model system for studying the emergence of invariant object recognition. Using an automated controlled-rearing approach, we show that chicks can build a viewpoint-invariant representation of the first object they see in their life. This invariant representation can be built from highly impoverished visual input (three images of an object separated by 15° azimuth rotations) and cannot be accounted for by low-level retina-like or V1-like neuronal representations. These results indicate that newborn neural circuits begin building invariant object representations at the onset of vision and argue for an increased focus on chicks as an animal model for studying invariant object recognition.
Highlights
Humans and other animals can recognize objects despite tremendous variation in how objects appear on the retina
During the test phase, we examined whether each chick had built a viewpoint-invariant representation of their imprinted object by using an automated two-alternative forced choice testing procedure
GENERAL DISCUSSION In this study, we examined whether newly hatched chicks can build invariant object representations from highly impoverished visual input
Summary
Humans and other animals can recognize objects despite tremendous variation in how objects appear on the retina (due to changes in viewpoint, size, lighting, and so forth). This ability—known as “invariant object recognition”—has been studied extensively in adult animals, but its developmental origins are poorly understood. Researchers have long recognized that studies of newborns are essential for characterizing the initial state of visual cognition; methodological constraints have hindered our ability to study invariant object recognition in newborn humans. Researchers have been unable to study how specific visual experiences shape the initial state of invariant object recognition. Researchers have been unable to measure newborns’ first visual object representations with high precision
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