A similarity-based approach for decoding the human object recognition pathway

描述（由申请人提供）：该申请的总体目标是双重的：(1)研究人类物体识别途径中动画的表示，(2)开发改进的方法，使用认知状态之间的多变量相似性测量来分析功能性脑图像。以下假设将被测试：基于模式的神经相似性测量与观看动画物体相关的认知状态将揭示大脑不同部位对不同类型信息的表征结构。具体目标1：确定形成对各种动物刺激反应模式的神经相似性结构基础的潜在维度，重点关注三个代表性领域：视觉形式（物种内和物种间），生物运动和威胁。具体目的2：测试动物实体的神经表征的相似性结构是否在不同的大脑区域有所不同。具体来说，为了评估解剖上不同的区域的相对贡献，假设代表三种类型的信息：枕下和腹侧颞皮质（视觉形式），颞上沟（生物运动），杏仁核和腹内侧前额皮质（威胁）。具体目标3：将神经相似性（从不同的大脑区域计算出来）与参与者在不同维度上判断的行为相似性联系起来。在视觉形式、生物运动和威胁三个表征领域中，建立神经表征与心理直觉相似性结构的直接联系。具体目标4：开发一种利用体素间空间信息计算神经相似性的方法。FMRl和行为数据将在三个实验中收集，以满足这些特定的目标。数据分析涉及图像预处理、模式分类、基于信息的脑映射、神经相似性的多变量测量、聚类分析和多维缩放等最先进技术的结合。与公共健康相关：这项研究将揭示大脑中支持动物表征的主要途径——社会大脑的核心组成部分。对这一系统的理解将为社会神经科学研究和与社会认知障碍为主要特征的广泛疾病相关的转化研究提供基础。多变量脑成像技术的发展大大提高了脑成像揭示神经表征结构的能力；特别是，基于相似性的方法的发展有望为我们提供一个强大的工具，将神经表征的结构与认知表征的模型联系起来。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The application's overall goal is twofold: (1) to investigate the representation of animacy in the human object recognition pathway, and (2) to develop improved methods for analyzing functional brain images using multivariate measures of similarity among cognitive states. The following hypothesis will be tested: Pattern-based measurements of neural similarity among cognitive states associated with viewing animate objects will reveal the structure of representation in different parts of the brain with respect to various types of information. Specific Aim 1: To identify the underlying dimensions that form the basis of neural similarity structure for patterns of response to a wide variety of animate stimuli focusing on three representational domains: visual form (both within-species and between-species), biological motion, and threat. Specific Aim 2: To test whether the similarity structure of the neural representations of animate entities varies across brain areas. Specifically, to evaluate the relative contributions of anatomically distinct regions hypothesized to represent three types of information: inferior-occipital and ventral temporal cortex (visual form), superior temporal sulcus (biological motion), and the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (threat). Specific Aim 3: To correlate neural similarity-calculated from various brain regions-with behavioral similarity judged by participants along various dimensions. To establish direct links between neural representation and psychological intuitions about similarity structure with respect to the three representational domains: visual form, biological motion, and threat. Specific aim 4: To develop a method for calculating neural similarity that exploits the spatial information among voxels. FMRl and behavioral data will be collected in three experiments tailored to meet these specific aims. Data analysis involves a combination of state-of-the-art techniques for image preprocessing, pattern-classification, information-based brain mapping, multivariate measures of neural similarity, cluster analyses, and multidimensional scaling. Relevance to public health: This research will shed light on a major pathway in the brain that supports the representation of animacy-a core component of the social brain. Understanding of this system will provide a cornerstone for research in social neuroscience and translational research relevant to a broad range of disorders in which impaired social cognition is a major feature. The growth of multivariate techniques in human brain imaging has greatly increased the power of brain imaging to reveal the structure of neural representation; in particular, the development of similarity-based approaches promises to provide us with a powerful tool for linking the structure of neural representation with models of cognitive representation.