Grill Spector Kalanit

<p>Dec 29, 2014 04:55 PM &nbsp;see Jesse Gomez below... does videos of Wednes talks on
talks.stfd.edu...</p>

<p>email is <a href="mailto:kalanit@St....edu">kalanit@St....edu</a></p>

<p>Mar 28, 2016 08:05 PM
abstract for her talk today:</p>

<p>In my talk, I will describe recent results elucidating the computations, representations, and neural implementation of the cortical system for<strong> face perception</strong>. Specifically, I will present data arguing against prevailing ideas that receptive fields and anatomy are irrelevant for understanding the function of high-level visual areas.</p>

<p>In contrast to predictions of classical theories, recent data from my lab reveals that computations in face-selective regions in human ventral temporal cortex can be characterized with a <strong>population receptive field (pRF) model,</strong> which predicts the location and spatial extent of the visual field that is processed by the neural population in a voxel. Importantly, our research shows that pRF properties in face-selective regions are behaviorally relevant for two reasons.</p>

<p>&nbsp;(1) <strong>Attention to faces modulates pRFs in face-selective regions</strong>, consequently enhancing the representation of faces in the peripheral visual field where visual acuity is the lowest.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(2)<strong> Face perception abilities are correlated with pRF properties: participants with larger pRFs perform better in face recognition</strong>.
&nbsp;These data suggest that computations performed by pRFs in face-selective regions may form a neural basis for holistic processing necessary for face recognition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Finally, I will describe recent observations showing that the spatial organization of functional regions in ventral temporal cortex relative to the cortical folding is more consistent than previously thought. Following these observations we examined what factors constrain this organization. We find that both the long-range white matter connections and the underlying cytoarchitectonic organization constrain the location of functional regions in ventral temporal cortex. Overall, these data highlight the importance of elucidating computational and anatomical properties of neural populations in ventral temporal cortex, as they offer a new mechanistic understanding of high-level visual processes such as face perception.This work has been done in collaboration with Kevin Weiner, Kendrick Kay, Nathan Witthoft &amp; Jesse Gomez.
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