Motion responses in scene-selective regions

Abstract

The vast majority of studies on scene processing were conducted using stationary scenes. However, during natural vision, scene views change dynamically due to self-induced eye-, head-, and body-motion, and these dynamic changes are crucial for other higher-level functions such as navigation, self-motion perception, and spatial updating. Yet, we do not know whether or how scene selective regions are modulated by visual motion and to which degree their motion response depends on scene content. In this study, we used fMRI to examine both questions using a 2×2 factorial design with the factors 2D planar motion (motion versus static) and scene content (natural scenes versus their Fourier scrambles). We found that among independently localized scene-responsive regions, parahippocampal place area (PPA) and transverse occipital sulcus (TOS), also referred to as occipital place area (OPA), were significantly motion responsive, whereas retrosplenial cortex (RSC) was not. Additionally, PPA showed an interaction between motion and scene in that it responded more to motion in context of scenes than scramble, with similar trends in TOS and RSC. These results provide a novel functional dissociation between motion-responsive PPA and TOS/OPA versus motion-unresponsive RSC and suggest a strong role for PPA in integrating motion and scene content.