Browsing by Subject "visuaalinen prosessointi"

Objectives: The ventral visual stream (VVS) is important for recognizing visual objects and processing semantic knowledge. However, it is not clear whether non-pictorially presented objects are processed similarly. Posterior inferotemporal cortex (pITC) in the upstream VVS has been shown to process visual object properties. On the other hand, perirhinal cortex (PRC) in the downstream VVS is important for differentiating complex visually and semantically similar objects. We investigated whether the same areas are connected to visualizing objects and understanding their meanings when objects are presented non-pictorially. We hypothesise that signals in the pITC and PRC are connected to object imaginability and semantic similarity, respectively. Methods: In a fMRI study the participants (n=17) guessed, which object was presented based on verbal clues. Subjective semantic similarity, imaginability and detailedness were evaluated with a questionnaire (n = 16). Objective semantic similarity was evaluated with a word2vec-vector space model. The association between the ITC and PRC and the object properties was studied with partial correlation. Results and conclusions: Objective semantic similarity and imaginability were connected to the BOLD-signal in the PRC. Detailedness was connected to the BOLD-signal in the pITC. These results indicate that the VVS processes verbally cued objects similarly as visually presented objects.