Lecture 4 Flashcards
What do specialized cells in the brain respond to, and how are they highly specific in their activation?
Specialized cells respond to specific visual stimuli like Jennifer Aniston or Halle Berry, and they are very precise in what triggers their activation.
What characterizes invariant cells, and can you provide an example of their behavior?
Invariant cells maintain their response despite changes in size, color, or orientation. They may respond consistently to Jennifer Aniston’s different poses.
How does familiarity affect the firing rate of cells, and what types of stimuli do these cells respond to?
Familiarity increases the firing rate of cells, which respond to individuals or objects the brain expects to encounter again.
What are gnostic (grandmother) cells, and can you provide an example of their function in recognizing objects?
Gnostic cells are neurons that respond to specific parts of objects, such as recognizing the components of a table. They are sometimes called “grandmother cells.”
What are some challenges associated with gnostic (grandmother) units, and what difficulties do they encounter in perceiving novel objects?
Gnostic units require a lot of space and can be damaged easily. They face difficulties when confronted with unfamiliar objects or incomplete information.
What are the two main goals of the vision system, and how do they relate to recognizing and completing patterns?
The vision system aims to differentiate patterns and complete them when information is incomplete. It also strives to generalize recognition across different situations.
What is dense encoding theory, and how does it explain the representation of objects or concepts in the brain?
Dense encoding theory suggests that multiple cells work together to create the perception of an object, relying on widespread activation.
How do local and dense coding principles potentially complement each other in the brain’s representation of information?
Both local and dense coding may coexist, with local coding focusing on specifics and dense coding involving distributed activation.
What are face patches, and where are they located in the brain? What is their role in visual perception?
Face patches are specialized regions in the temporal lobe responsible for processing facial information, enabling us to recognize and distinguish faces.
What is pareidolia, and can you provide an example of how it occurs in everyday experiences?
Pareidolia is when individuals perceive familiar shapes or objects in unrelated patterns, like seeing faces in clouds or objects in random
Which region of the brain primarily serves as the pathway for the ventral stream in visual processing, and what specific functions are associated with this stream?
The ventral stream primarily travels through the temporal lobe of the brain. It specializes in object recognition, color perception, and the identification of visual features, often referred to as the “what pathway” in visual processing.
What is the primary brain region through which the dorsal stream, responsible for spatial perception and motion detection, primarily travels, and what specific functions does it serve within this stream?
The dorsal stream primarily travels through the parietal lobe of the brain. Within the parietal lobe, it plays a crucial role in processes such as spatial perception, motion detection, and guiding actions. This stream is often referred to as the “where pathway” because it focuses on answering the question “Where is it?” by processing the spatial aspects of the visual environment and guiding motor actions in response to visual cues.
What is the primary function of neurons in the monkey IT cortex, and how do they respond to visual stimuli?
Neurons in the monkey IT cortex primarily respond to complex objects, such as faces, as part of their role in higher-level visual processing and object recognition.
Briefly describe the approach taken by Chang and Tsao (2017) in their study involving face stimuli deconstruction, and what was the main goal of this research?
Chang and Tsao (2017) deconstructed face stimuli into their component elements, such as points and shading, to investigate how the brain processes facial features. The primary aim was to gain insights into the neural mechanisms underlying face recognition and perception.
