Information processing strategies and pathways in the. Retinal origins of parallel pathways in the primate visual system wednesday, september 23, 2015 sherry, 2002 1 parallel pathways in the retina several different images of the outside world are sent simultaneously via parallel pathways from the eye to the brain. This chapter concerns the visual motion processing and detection taking place in the visual cortex of the primate brain, including the cortical areas such as the primary visual cortex v1, the. Structure and function of parallel pathways in the primate early visual system edward m. This is partly because the macaques have color vision and visual acuity similar to the visual capabilities of man devalois and jacobs, 1971. Parallel processing strategies of the primate visual system ncbi. We will argue that the marmoset monkey provides a good subject for studies of a complex visual system, which will likely allow an important bridge linking experiments in animal models to humans. Over a decade ago it was proposed that the primate auditory cortex is organized in a serial and parallel manner in which there is a dorsal stream processing spatial information and a ventral stream processing nonspatial information. Processing streams and hierarchical organization of the primate visual system. The retina of the macaque monkey compacts the visual information received by more than 4 million cone photoreceptors and processed by millions of other retinal neurones into the trains of action potentials of about 1. At the two lowest levels, retinal ganglion cells rgc and lateral geniculate nucleus lgn, there is a dichotomy between the small parvocellular p cells and the large magnocellular.
Van essen2 1 department of neurobiology and anatomy, university of texas medical school, houston, texas 77030, and 2 division of biology, california institute of technology, pasadena, california 91125 in recent years, many new cortical areas have. Parallel processing of internal and external feedback in. The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which gives organisms the ability to process visual detail as sight, as well as enabling the formation of several nonimage photo response functions. Recently, m uch emphasis has been placed on the relationship between two subcortical and two cortical pathways. Information processing in the primate visual system. These subdivisions are extensively interconnected in a distributed hierarchical network that contains several intertwined processing streams. In primates, approximately 55% of the cortex is specialized for visual processing compared to 3% for auditory processing and 11% for somatosensory processing felleman and van essen. In particular, it allows separation of the formal purpose of a model structure from its implementation in specific brains.
Van essen2 1 department of neurobiology and anatomy, university of texas medical school, houston, texas 77030, and 2 division of biology, california institute of technology, pasadena, california 91125. Serial and parallel processing in the primate auditory. May 19, 2009 primates exhibit a striking diversity of colors and patterns in their pelage and skin markings, used in functions as diverse as camouflage to sexual signaling. Parallel processing in the mammalian retina nature. Rays diverging from the nodal point form the same angle as they impinge on the retina. Parallel processing strategies of the primate visual. Parallel processing of sensory information is a commonly used strategy in the mammalian brain, not only between sensory modalities but across features of a single sense as well.
The computational architectures focus lies in multiple strategies. Objective analysis of the topological organization of the primate cortical visual system article pdf available in nature 3586382. Current research on the organization and function of the. Somatosensory processes subserving perception and action. Ab humans are diurnal primates with high visual acuity at the center of gaze. Visual processing in the primate brain 140 emanating from an object to their point of focus near the back surface of the lens the socalled nodal point. Representation of naturalistic image structure in the primate. Box 3 modern techniques to investigate parallel processing in the visual system.
A sufficient strategy for performing the task is as. Visual processing poses an enormous computational challenge for the brain, which has evolved highly organized and efficient neural systems to meet these demands. Detailed and comprehensive data on largescale connectivity between primate brain areas have been collated systematically from published reports of experimental tracing studies. W the programming language joyce in november 1979 i published a report on an experimental. Pdf we see the world in scenes, where visual objects occur in rich. Numerous techniques have been developed to gain further insight into the mechanisms underlying parallel processing in the primate visual system 73, 3, 4, 148 152. Bartels wellcome department of cognitive neurology,university college,london wc1e 6bt anatomical and physiological evidence shows that the primate visual brain consists of many distributed processing systems, acting in parallel. Thus, on the basis of the above discussion about the need for segregation of large brains, the segregation of the visual brain of primates into pathways, in which. Pdf the primate visual system contains dozens of distinct areas in the cerebral cortex and several major subcortical structures. Many of the parallel processing strategies found in the primate visual system are also found in the other sensory processing systems of the mammalian brain. Spatial remapping in the primate visual system whitman richards department of psychology, massachusetts institute of technology, cambridge, massachusetts received december 1, 1967 this work was supported by the u.
Many tasks in visual processing that have previously been attributed to higher stages of the visual system, such as the visual cortex, take place. These lectures on functional retinal circuitry describe how this parallel processing. Nowlan abstract motion perception requires the visual system to satisfy two conflicting demands. An additional set of neurons, known as the koniocellular cell k cell layers, are found ventral to each of the m cell and p cell layers. Recent experiments suggest that the visual cortex, like the retina, forms parallel circuits even at very fine spatial scales. Cognitive chapter 3 visual perception flashcards quizlet. On the other hand, neuroscience has taught us much about neural coding properties and about the signal transformations occurring at various stages of the system. Multiple strategies including retinal tiling, hierarchical and parallel processing and modularity, defined spatially and by cell typespecific connectivity, are used by the visual system to recover the intricate detail of our visual surroundings. Representing and processing objects in groups that. Over the years a nuanced distinction has arose that. The architecture is modular and expandable in both hardware and software, so that it can also cope with multisensory integrations. Parallel processing, asynchronous perception, and a distributed system of consciousness in vision s. A model of visual motion processing in area mt of primates. Retina parallel 2015 university of houston optometry clinic.
However, large gaps in understanding remain, most notably relating circuitlevel mechanisms and gene expression to specific neuron response characteristics and highorder extrastriate computations. While some aspects of human vision are mentioned, our analysis will focus on the macaque monkey, which has a superb visual system very similar to that of. Pdf parallel processing strategies of the primate visual system. Vision is the most widely studied and dominant sensory system in human and nonhuman primates. In fact\, such systems often collect so much data that traditional data processing techniques are insufficient.
The fef contributes to the preparation and initiation of saccades through projections to the superior coiliculus and brain stem saccade generator. The evolution of primate color vision occidental college. The inner two layers, 1 and 2 are magnocellular cell m cell layers, while the outer four layers, 3,4,5 and 6, are parvocellular cell p cell layers. Foxp2 is a parvocellularspecific transcription factor in.
The basis of the success of the order primates is the relatively unspecialized nature of their structure and the highly specialized plasticity of their behaviour. Of the total sur face area of the cerebral cortex roughly 50%. The need for parallel processing in the visual system is immediately appreciated when one considers the multitude of qualities that are. Allman biology division, california institute of technology, pasadena, california abstract in this study, threedimensional reconstructions of primate primary visual cortex v1 were used to address questions about its evolution. With recent advancements of neuroimaging techniques, availability of an increasing amount of physiological data and current computational capabilities, we now have powerful resources. In this article, we present a neurologically motivated computational architecture for visual information processing. Somatosensory processes subserving perception and action volume 30 issue 2 h. Primate visual system descriptive models of the visual system have been essential to understand how retinal neurons convert visual stimuli into a neural response. Therefore, a great deal of visual processing is dedicated to a problem that most of us have never heard of. Review parallel processing, asynchronous perception, and a.
Recently a further pathway in parallel to these has been found in the interlaminar regions klayers of the geniculate. Features and functions of nonlinear spatial integration by retinal. Another angle on rat somatosensory thalamic barreloids. Pdf information processing in the primate visual system.
The visual system carries out a number of complex tasks, including the. Parallel visual pathways from the retina 147 lateral geniculate nucleus 148 anatomy 148. Mapping nonlinear receptive field structure in primate retina. We then summarize a number of computer vision and robotic problems for which biological models can give indications for how these can be addressed. Visual perception and its neural substrates psychophysical studies have taught us much about the nature of visual perception, suggesting the existence of certain neural mechanisms and representations. Visual information is conveyed to the cerebral cortex via the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus dlgn along parallel visual.
Although there are several books on vision in the market, until now no book has provided a comprehensive overview of the primate visual system. Louis, mo introduction the mammalian visual pathway is an amazingly complex and intricate system, capable of processing vast amounts of. Born the mammalian visual system processes many different aspects of the visual scene in separate, parallel channels. Structure and function of parallel pathways in the primate. A model of visual motion processing in area mt of primates terrence j. Structure and function of parallel pathways in the primate early visual system. First described by hubel and wiesel14 in the anesthetized monkey, ds cells in v1 are characterized by their vigorous response to stimulus. Threedimensional structure and evolution of primate primary visual cortex eliot c. Primary visual cortex and parallel processing strategies. Information processing strategies cells have concentric, antagonistically organized receptive fields. Parallel processing of internal and external feedback in the spinocerebellar system of primates oren cohen, 1ran harel,2 tim d. A fundamental basis of vision is parallel processing of sensory information, which is especially prominent in higher mammals such as primates and carnivores. Distributed hierarchical processing in the primate cerebral. Parallel routes also can be distinguished in the projection from the eye through the lateral geniculate nucleus to the visual cortex.
Models of auditory cortical processing can be conceived by analogy to the visual cortex, incorporating neural mechanisms that are found in both the visual and auditory systems. These cells project to magnocellular cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus as part of the magnocellular pathway in the visual system. Connectivity is the key to understanding distributed and cooperative brain functions. Distributed hierarchical processing in the primate. The m, p and k pathways of the primate visual system. Recent studies in the primate visual cortex have greatly contributed to our understanding of how this goal is accomplished. The microcircuits for associative object representations found in the present study might act in parallel with other channels. The specialization evident in visual processing shows that a. Representation of naturalistic image structure in the primate visual cortex j. The vertebrate retina represents the input stage of the visual system. This organization is similar to the whatwhere processing of.
It detects and interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding environment. The primate visual system contains dozens of distinct areas in the cerebral cortex and several major subcortical structures. The evolution of primate color vision analyses of primate visual pigments show that our color vision evolved in an unusual way and that the brain is more adaptable than generally thought by gerald h. Distributed hierarchical processing in the primate cerebral cortex daniel j. Information processing strategies and pathways in the primate visual system. Information processing strategies and pathways in the primate. Multiple representation across functional stripes anna w. Pdf objective analysis of the topological organization of.
Then we summarize important findings about the primates visual system and draw a number of conclusions for the development of algorithms from these findings. S imoncelli1,2 1center for neural science, new york university, new york, new york 3 2howard hughes medical institute, new york university, new york, new york 3 correspondence. The most important sensory system for humans is the visual system and the best animal model for this is the nonhuman primate. Pdf parallel processing strategies of the primate visual. The autonomy of the visual systems and the modularity of conscious vision s. The anatomical basis for streams in the primate visual cortex the dorsal and ventral streams are widely accepted as major anatomical organizational features of the primate visual cortex. Multiple strategies including retinal tiling, hierarchical and parallel processing and modularity, defined spatially and by cell typespecific connectivity, are used by the visual system to recover the intricate detail of our. Online retrieval, processing, and visualization of primate. Here, in primates, the parvocellular p and magnocellular m pathways are well established. Retinal origins of parallel pathways in the primate retina and visual system monday, september 30, 2019 sherry, 2002 1. Rather than send visual signals from the eye to the brain along a homogeneous population of ganglion cells, in the primate, at least 17 distinct.
Heliard, remarked that brinch hansens proposal seemed to fit our needs to a good extent and was a source of inspiration in the design of the ada tasking facilities. Jacobs and jeremy nathans chimpanzees, like humans, can distinguish among colors that other mammals cannot see. Parallel processing in the brains visual form system. Visual processing an overview sciencedirect topics. A notable example is the nonlinear subunit computation hochstein and shapley, 1976 observed in the responses of several types of rgcs, the output neurons of the retina. Parallel processing strategies of the primate visual system. A number of strategies are used for efficient information processing within this hierarchy. The differences in the visual system across primate taxa provide a research advantage, as differences in visual system organization can be related to visual abilities, but such differences can also lead to confusion when comparing the structure and function of specialized visual areas between species. Jan 24, 1992 information processing in the primate visual system.
In fact, a better understanding of spatial processing by retinal ganglion cells. Of the total surface area of the cerebral cortex roughly 50% in macaque monkey, and 20 to 30% in human, is largely or exclu. Functional compartmentalization and viewpoint generalization within the macaque face processing system. A comprehensive reference provides the same depth and breadth of coverage as the print, and offers enhanced features including fast and easy navigation. The autonomy of the visual systems and the modularity of. It is therefore hardly surprising that a very large expanse of cerebral cortex is devoted to analyzing and interpreting the relatively raw messages transmitted from the retina. In studying primate colors, it is important to adopt approaches not based on human assessment wherever possible, and that preferably take account of the visual system of the appropriate receivers. This anatomical segregation reflects two different functional modes of visual processing. A central problem in determining how visual information is processed is understanding how each of these rgc. The interplay between the two channels of visual analysis is a feature of vision in all active animals. A central problem in determining how visual information is.
This wealth of information about the visual system has resulted from decades of research primarily in primate and carnivore species. Threedimensional structure and evolution of primate primary. Although the majority of the data have been made easily available for online retrieval, the multiplicity of brain maps and the. Investigating the anatomical basis for streams in the. Thus, the length and height of the retinal image formed by. A comparative approach is a concise overview of the anatomical, physiological and psychophysical data on the visual system of different primate species. This book synthesizes the current knowledge on the anatomical and functional organization of the primate visual system and proposes new directions for research. Parallel processing streams in the primate visual system originate from more than a dozen anatomically and functionally distinct types of retinal ganglion cells rgcs. Tso division of neuroscience, baylor college of medicine, houston, texas 77030 the second visual cortical area v2 of the primate is com posed of repeating thin, pale, and thick cytochrome oxi. Ultimately, these parallel input signals must be elaborated on and integrated in the cortex to provide a unified and coherent percept. Two visual pathways in primates based on sampling of space.
Incoming sensory information is sent to the brain along modalityspecific channels corresponding to the five senses. Once the condensed and parallel signals from the retina and lgn arrive in visual cortex, the original components of the visual scene must be extracted, elaborated upon and integrated into a unified percept. It was then that the most eloquent apologist for the idea that processing in the visual cortex is basically hierarchical and serial became a fervent convert to the rival concept of parallel pro cessing. The mammalian visual pathway is an amazingly complex and intricate system, capable of processing vast amounts of sensory information for use in the precise control of both immediate and longterm behavior. This combination has permitted the primates throughout their evolutionary history to exploit the wide variety of novel ecological opportunities that have come their way. Most primates are highly visual creatures, capable of a wide variety of difficult tasks that must be carried out in a complex visual environment. Information processing in the primate visual system cmu school of. Pdf computing optical flow in the primate visual system. Browse the whole work by volume, authors or article titles. Multiple strategies including retinal tiling, hierarchical and parallel processing and modularity, defined spatially and by cell typespecific connectivity. Interested in online access to this reference the electronic version of the senses. Zeki the wellcome department of cognitive neurology university college, london the primate visual brain is characterized by a set of parallel, multistage systems that are specialized to process different attributes of the visual scene. Microcircuits for hierarchical elaboration of object.
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