Visual responses in the temporal cortex to moving objects with invariant contours.

Abstract

We were interested in how the visual attributes of motion and shape are integrated in the temporal cortex of monkeys. We recorded neural activity in the middle portion of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) of monkeys during a sequential visual discrimination task while the animals maintained fixation. We used images of objects with invariant outlines rotating in 3D space either clockwise or counterclockwise as visual stimuli. In the sequential discrimination task, after the fixation pattern was presented for 1.0 s, the sample stimulus (S1) appeared at the center of the monitor screen for 0.8 s. After a delay period of 0.5-2.0 s, the same stimulus or a new response stimulus appeared on the screen for 0.8 s. In each block, the response stimulus was either a new direction of rotation or a new shape. Of 425 responding neurons isolated in the STS, 202 (48%) showed significant activity when S1 stimuli were presented. Of these visual neurons, 27 (13%) were categorized as motion and shape selective (MS), 69 (34%) as shape selective (S), and 6 (3%) as motion selective (M). Briefer than for MS or S neurons, the latency of the remaining non-selective neurons was 80 ms. Latencies of visual response (110 ms) of both MS and S neurons were similar. On the other hand, MS neurons started responding later (180 ms) to changes in direction. Our findings show that neurons in the STS, responding selectively to changes in shape, do respond to relatively simple motion and that variable contouring is not essential to elicit motion response. The results may also suggest the functional segregation of selective versus non-selective neurons and the later arrival of directional response to MS neurons in the STS.