Abstract
A traditional line of work starting with the Gestalt school has shown that patterns vary in strength and salience; a difference in “Perceptual goodness.” The Holographic weight of evidence model quantifies goodness of visual regularities. The key formula states that W = E/N, where E is number of holographic identities in a pattern and N is number of elements. We tested whether W predicts the amplitude of the neural response to regularity in an extrastriate symmetry-sensitive network. We recorded an Event Related Potential (ERP) generated by symmetry called the Sustained Posterior Negativity (SPN). First, we reanalyzed the published work and found that W explained most variance in SPN amplitude. Then in four new studies, we confirmed specific predictions of the holographic model regarding 1) the differential effects of numerosity on reflection and repetition, 2) the similarity between reflection and Glass patterns, 3) multiple symmetries, and 4) symmetry and anti-symmetry. In all cases, the holographic approach predicted SPN amplitude remarkably well; particularly in an early window around 300–400 ms post stimulus onset. Although the holographic model was not conceived as a model of neural processing, it captures many details of the brain response to symmetry.
Highlights
Ernst Mach (1886/1959) observed that some types of symmetry are more obvious than others, while Gestalt psychologists considered the role of symmetry in perceptual organization (Wertheimer, 1923) and as a principle of pragnanz, or goodness of the stimulus (Kohler 1929; Koffka 1935)
Linear mixed effects analysis found that W was a significant predictor of Sustained Posterior Negativity (SPN) amplitude (SPN = −2.855 W, χ2(1) = 17.377, P < 0.001, Fig. 6F), and there was the high overlap between grand-average SPN and W (R2 = 0.811, Fig. 6G)
We found that the SPN-generating mechanisms in the extrastriate visual cortex responded to anti-symmetry both 1) without delay and 2) with only a small reduction amplitude
Summary
Ernst Mach (1886/1959) observed that some types of symmetry are more obvious than others, while Gestalt psychologists considered the role of symmetry in perceptual organization (Wertheimer, 1923) and as a principle of pragnanz, or goodness of the stimulus (Kohler 1929; Koffka 1935). The SPN was right lateralized in Studies 1 and 2 In each of our four new studies reported here, we have five different measures of perceptual goodness: A theoretical measure (W), two neural measures (early SPN and GFP) and two behavioral measures (response time and error rate). It is worth briefly examining consistency between these disparate measures by pooling data across all available experiments. This confirms that GFP is less precisely tuned to the predictions of the holographic model than the SPN itself
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