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Jane E. Joseph
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Journal Articles
Publisher: Journals Gateway
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2015) 27 (5): 974–987.
Published: 01 May 2015
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We manipulated the degree of structural similarity between objects that had to be matched either according to whether they represented the same object (perceptual matching) or belonged to the same category (conceptual matching). Behaviorally, performance improved as a linear function of increased structural similarity during conceptual matching but deteriorated as a linear function of increased structural similarity during perceptual matching. These effects were mirrored in fMRI recordings where activation in several ventral posterior areas exhibited a similar interaction between match type and structural similarity. Our findings provide direct support for the notion that structural similarity exerts opposing effects on classification depending on whether objects are to be perceptually differentiated or categorized—a notion that has been based on rather circumstantial evidence. In particular, the finding that structural similarity plays a major role in categorization of instances according to taxonomy challenges the view that the organization of superordinate categories is not driven by shared structural features.
Journal Articles
Publisher: Journals Gateway
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2012) 24 (12): 2428–2444.
Published: 01 December 2012
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The degree to which face-specific brain regions are specialized for different kinds of perceptual processing is debated. This study parametrically varied demands on featural, first-order configural, or second-order configural processing of faces and houses in a perceptual matching task to determine the extent to which the process of perceptual differentiation was selective for faces regardless of processing type (domain-specific account), specialized for specific types of perceptual processing regardless of category (process-specific account), engaged in category-optimized processing (i.e., configural face processing or featural house processing), or reflected generalized perceptual differentiation (i.e., differentiation that crosses category and processing type boundaries). ROIs were identified in a separate localizer run or with a similarity regressor in the face-matching runs. The predominant principle accounting for fMRI signal modulation in most regions was generalized perceptual differentiation. Nearly all regions showed perceptual differentiation for both faces and houses for more than one processing type, even if the region was identified as face-preferential in the localizer run. Consistent with process specificity, some regions showed perceptual differentiation for first-order processing of faces and houses (right fusiform face area and occipito-temporal cortex and right lateral occipital complex), but not for featural or second-order processing. Somewhat consistent with domain specificity, the right inferior frontal gyrus showed perceptual differentiation only for faces in the featural matching task. The present findings demonstrate that the majority of regions involved in perceptual differentiation of faces are also involved in differentiation of other visually homogenous categories.
Journal Articles
Publisher: Journals Gateway
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2008) 20 (9): 1711–1726.
Published: 01 September 2008
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The present study explored constraints on mid-fusiform activation during object discrimination. In three experiments, participants performed a matching task on simple line configurations, nameable objects, three dimensional (3-D) shapes, and colors. Significant bilateral mid-fusiform activation emerged when participants matched objects and 3-D shapes, as compared to when they matched two-dimensional (2-D) line configurations and colors, indicating that the mid-fusiform is engaged more strongly for processing structural descriptions (e.g., comparing 3-D volumetric shape) than perceptual descriptions (e.g., comparing 2-D or color information). In two of the experiments, the same mid-fusiform regions were also modulated by the degree of structural similarity between stimuli, implicating a role for the mid-fusiform in fine differentiation of similar visual object representations. Importantly, however, this process of fine differentiation occurred at the level of structural, but not perceptual, descriptions. Moreover, mid-fusiform activity was more robust when participants matched shape compared to color information using the identical stimuli, indicating that activity in the mid-fusiform gyrus is not driven by specific stimulus properties, but rather by the process of distinguishing stimuli based on shape information. Taken together, these findings further clarify the nature of object processing in the mid-fusiform gyrus. This region is engaged specifically in structural differentiation, a critical component process of object recognition and categorization.
Journal Articles
Publisher: Journals Gateway
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2006) 18 (9): 1518–1530.
Published: 01 September 2006
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The neural mechanism of number representation and processing is currently under extensive investigation. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we designed a number comparison task to examine how people represent and compare two-digit numbers in the brain, and whether they process the decade and unit digits in parallel. We manipulated the decade-unit-digit congruency and numerical distance between the pairs of numbers. We observed both Stroop-like interference and the distance effect in the participants' performance. People responded more slowly to incongruent pairs of numbers and pairs of a smaller distance. The inferior parietal cortex showed common and distinct patterns of activation for both attentional selection and number comparison processes, and its activity was modulated by the Stroop-like interference effect and the distance effect. Taken together, these results support both parallel and holistic comparison of two-digit numbers in the brain.