The neural bases of spatial frequency processing during scene perception.

Louise Kauffmann,Stephen Ramanoã«L,Carole Peyrin

doi:10.3389/fnint.2014.00037

Abstract

Theories on visual perception agree that scenes are processed in terms of spatial frequencies. Low spatial frequencies (LSF) carry coarse information whereas high spatial frequencies (HSF) carry fine details of the scene. However, how and where spatial frequencies are processed within the brain remain unresolved questions. The present review addresses these issues and aims to identify the cerebral regions differentially involved in low and high spatial frequency processing, and to clarify their attributes during scene perception. Results from a number of behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that spatial frequency processing is lateralized in both hemispheres, with the right and left hemispheres predominantly involved in the categorization of LSF and HSF scenes, respectively. There is also evidence that spatial frequency processing is retinotopically mapped in the visual cortex. HSF scenes (as opposed to LSF) activate occipital areas in relation to foveal representations, while categorization of LSF scenes (as opposed to HSF) activates occipital areas in relation to more peripheral representations. Concomitantly, a number of studies have demonstrated that LSF information may reach high-order areas rapidly, allowing an initial coarse parsing of the visual scene, which could then be sent back through feedback into the occipito-temporal cortex to guide finer HSF-based analysis. Finally, the review addresses spatial frequency processing within scene-selective regions areas of the occipito-temporal cortex.

Highlights

Scenes containing more realistic and more natural stimuli have increasingly become the object of scientific interest over the last 20 years, as they involve the perception of stimuli which are more complex and more realistic than simple objects or drawings
We studied the categorization of Low spatial frequencies (LSF) and high spatial frequencies (HSF) scenes in a female neurological patient who suffered from a focal lesion in the right occipito-temporal cortex following the embolization of an arterioveinous malformation
Right occipital areas are more activated than the left ones during the processing of LSF scenes, while left occipital areas are more activated than the right ones during the processing of HSF scenes

Summary

The neural bases of spatial frequency processing during scene perception

Reviewed by: Summer Sheremata, George Washington University, USA Michelle R. Theories on visual perception agree that scenes are processed in terms of spatial frequencies. The present review addresses these issues and aims to identify the cerebral regions differentially involved in low and high spatial frequency processing, and to clarify their attributes during scene perception. Results from a number of behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that spatial frequency processing is lateralized in both hemispheres, with the right and left hemispheres predominantly involved in the categorization of LSF and HSF scenes, respectively. A number of studies have demonstrated that LSF information may reach high-order areas rapidly, allowing an initial coarse parsing of the visual scene, which could be sent back through feedback into the occipito-temporal cortex to guide finer HSF-based analysis. The review addresses spatial frequency processing within scene-selective regions areas of the occipito-temporal cortex

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION