1,721,126 research outputs found
A common neural substrate for processing scenes and egomotion-compatible visual motion
Full text linkNeuroimaging studies have revealed two separate classes of category-selective regions specialized in optic flow (egomotion-compatible) processing and in scene/place perception. Despite the importance of both optic flow and scene/place recognition to estimate changes in position and orientation within the environment during self-motion, the possible functional link between egomotion- and scene-selective regions has not yet been established. Here we reanalyzed functional magnetic resonance images from a large sample of participants performing two well-known “localizer” fMRI experiments, consisting in passive viewing of navigationally relevant stimuli such as buildings and places (scene/place stimulus) and coherently moving fields of dots simulating the visual stimulation during self-motion (flow fields). After interrogating the egomotion-selective areas with respect to the scene/place stimulus and the scene-selective areas with respect to flow fields, we found that the egomotion-selective areas V6+ and pIPS/V3A responded bilaterally more to scenes/places compared to faces, and all the scene-selective areas (parahippocampal place area or PPA, retrosplenial complex or RSC, and occipital place area or OPA) responded more to egomotion-compatible optic flow compared to random motion. The conjunction analysis between scene/place and flow field stimuli revealed that the most important focus of common activation was found in the dorsolateral parieto-occipital cortex, spanning the scene-selective OPA and the egomotion-selective pIPS/V3A. Individual inspection of the relative locations of these two regions revealed a partial overlap and a similar response profile to an independent low-level visual motion stimulus, suggesting that OPA and pIPS/V3A may be part of a unique motion-selective complex specialized in encoding both egomotion- and scene-relevant information, likely for the control of navigation in a structured environment
THE COGNITIVE REPRESENTATION OF ACTION: MODULATION EFFECTS BETWEEN ACTION AND PERCEPTION AS MEDIATED BY THE EVENT CODING
Full text linkGaspare Galati, Teresa Scalisi, Pierluigi Zoccolott
The Role of Visuo-Spatial Working Memory in map learning
Full text linkPierluigi Zoccolotti, Gaspare Galati, Gloria Scalisi
Novel Concepts for Surface Movement Radar Design
Full text linkTraditional millimeter wave Surface Movement Radar (SMR) have been designed and tested. A novel concept for the design of a new SMR is suggested based upon Synthetic Aperture Antenna and Noise Radar Technology. It enables designing of SMR without mechanical rotation of an antenna, but applying several nonmoving Synthetic Aperture Antennas instead. Application of Noise Radar Technology is also considered in more detail to improve the expected performance of a new SMR
Individual differences in mental imagery are predicted by the intrinsic functional architecture of scene-selective regions
No full textMental imagery plays a crucial role in several cognitive processes, including navigation. It has been
found that cortical regions encoding navigationally-relevant information are also active during mental
imagery of navigational scenes. However, it remains unknown whether their activity reflects the
individuals’ ability to imagine a scene.
Here we used resting state functional connectivity based on functional magnetic resonance imaging
and self-reported questionnaires assessing the preference in using mental imagery (over linguistic)
representations to examine whether the pattern of reciprocal connections between scene-selective and
hippocampal regions reflected individual differences in mental imagery.
We found that the functional coupling between the left parahippocampal place area and the left
retrosplenial cortex significantly predicted the individual cognitive style, i.e., these regions were more
connected in people showing a preference in processing visual information about spatial attributes of
the scene versus verbal information. This suggests that the spontaneous brain activity in
navigationally relevant regions may account for individual differences in using spatial imagery
strategies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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