Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on November 21, 2007
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm197
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Where Vision Meets Memory: Prefrontal–Posterior Networks for Visual Object Constancy during Categorization and Recognition
1 Department of Psychology, Tufts University, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA, 2 Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA, 3 Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA, 4 Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Address correspondence to Haline E. Schendan, PhD, Department of Psychology, Tufts University, The Psychology Building, 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155, USA. Email: Haline_E.Schendan{at}tufts.edu.
Objects seen from unusual relative to more canonical views require more time to categorize and recognize, and, according to object model verification theories, additionally recruit prefrontal processes for cognitive control that interact with parietal processes for mental rotation. To test this using functional magnetic resonance imaging, people categorized and recognized known objects from unusual and canonical views. Canonical views activated some components of a default network more on categorization than recognition. Activation to unusual views showed that both ventral and dorsal visual pathways, and prefrontal cortex, have key roles in visual object constancy. Unusual views activated object-sensitive and mental rotation (and not saccade) regions in ventrocaudal intraparietal, transverse occipital, and inferotemporal sulci, and ventral premotor cortex for verification processes of model testing on any task. A collateral–lingual sulci "place" area activated for mental rotation, working memory, and unusual views on correct recognition and categorization trials to accomplish detailed spatial matching. Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and object-sensitive lateral occipital sulcus activated for mental rotation and unusual views on categorization more than recognition, supporting verification processes of model prediction. This visual knowledge framework integrates vision and memory theories to explain how distinct prefrontal–posterior networks enable meaningful interactions with objects in diverse situations.
Key Words: long-term memory • occipital cortex • parietal cortex • spatial cognition • temporal lobe