Unsupervised neuronal and perceptual learning of invariant object representation

描述(申请人提供)：视觉物体识别(分类和识别)是我们生存最基本的认知功能之一。下颞叶皮质(IT)是大脑决策和记忆中心的门户，它传递视觉对象和类别信息的方式在很大程度上对对象的确切位置、大小、姿势、照明和杂乱是容忍(不变的)。我们最近发现，一种类型的容差~位置容差~可以通过对自然视觉体验的统计进行有针对性的操作而迅速改变。这种新发现的神经元学习类型表明，IT从自然视觉体验的时空连续性中学习耐受性，因为在自然视觉过程中，同一对象的不同图像往往会在我们的视网膜上顺利播放。这项建议的首要目标是研究自然视觉体验在塑造IT对象表征中的作用，以及这种体验在相同的受试者(非人类灵长类动物)中的知觉后果。动物将在人工改变的视觉世界中获得体验，在那里我们对它们视觉体验的时空连续性进行特定的改变。间歇性地，我们将通过单电极记录和物体辨别任务来测量动物的IT神经元位置耐受性和知觉耐受性，以跟踪该经历产生的任何变化。我们的第一个目标是检查IT职位容忍度的有针对性的、经验驱动的变化是否伴随着对象感知的具体、稳定的变化。我们的第二个目标是检验自然获得的时空经验是否指导学习对其他保持身份的图像变化(对象大小、3D姿势)的容忍度(不变性)。总而言之，这一结果将阐明无人监督的经验在发展“不变”对象表征方面的潜在关键作用。它直接投射到负责决策、行动和记忆的大脑区域，因此对IT对象表示的理解使我们能够理解记忆和认知的基本构建块。它类似于人脑的结构：枕外侧复合体(LOC)、梭状面部区域(FFA)和海马旁位置区域(PPA)参与了物体、面部和位置的加工。认知障碍是许多神经疾病的症状，例如失认症、阿尔茨海默氏症、自闭症、阅读障碍，因此对识别过程背后的电路的了解可能会提供对这些疾病的洞察。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Visual object recognition (categorization and identification) is one of the most fundamental cognitive functions for our survival. The inferior temporal cortex (IT) is the gateway to brain's decision and memory centers and it conveys visual object and category information in a manner that is largely tolerant ("invariant") to the exact position, size, pose of the object, illumination, and clutter. We recently found that one type of tolerance ~ position tolerance ~ can be rapidly altered by targeted manipulation of the statistics of natural visual experience. This newly discovered type of neuronal learning suggests that IT learns tolerance from the spatiotemporal contiguity of natural visual experience, as different images of the same object tend to play out smoothly on our retina during natural vision. The overarching goal of this proposal is to examine the role of natural visual experience in shaping the IT object representation, and the perceptual consequences of that experience in the same subjects (non-human primates). Animals will acquire experience in an artificially altered visual world where we make specific changes to the spatiotemporal contiguity of their visual experience. Intermittently, we will measure animals' IT neuronal position tolerance and perceptual tolerance by means of single-electrode recording and object discrimination task to track any changes produced by that experience. Our first aim is to examine whether the targeted, experience-driven changes in IT position tolerance is accompanied by specific, stable changes in object perception. Our second aim is to examine whether the naturally acquired spatiotemporal experience instructs learning of tolerance ("invariance") to other identity-preserving image variations (object size, 3D pose). Together, the outcome will elucidate the potentially key role of unsupervised experience in the development of "invariant" object representation. IT projects directly to brain areas responsible for decision, action, and memory, thus an understanding of the IT object representation allows us to understand the basic building blocks of memory and cognition. IT is analogous to structures in the human brain: area Lateral Occipital Complex (LOC), Fusiform Face Area (FFA), and Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA) have been implicated in the processing of objects, faces, and places. Deficits in recognition are symptoms of many neurological disorders: e.g., agnosia, Alzheimer's, autism, dyslexia, thus an understanding of the circuitry underlying the recognition process is likely to provide insight into their conditions.