Structure of the Human Cortical Depth Map

描述（来自申请人的摘要）：最重要的角色之一 是提供编码空间关系的能力 in the three-dimensional三维world世界where we operate操作.国内活动 喜欢烹饪，极限运动和表演技能，一个足够的 视觉（和其他感官）空间的表现是必不可少的 先决条件。陈述中的任何缺陷都可能导致 严重的性能缺陷和生活质量的损害。我们 因此，提出了一种结合心理物理和功能磁共振成像（磁 共振成像）方法来确定深度的结构 在人脑中的代表性。最后的深度表示是皮层 从所有可用线索中编码场景的3D结构的过程， 将这些特定深度线索整合到单一深度印象中，或者 “深度图”。该通用深度图接收来自一系列深度线索的输入， 例如双眼视差、运动视差以及大量静态单眼视差 包括透视、阴影纹理、模糊和对比度的深度线索。 一系列的功能磁共振成像研究旨在分离大脑皮层的处理过程， 每个单独的深度线索，并确定它如何进入通用深度 地图，与深度线索心理调整为平等的显着性。是 在空间的皮质表示中处理的每个线索的深度， 每个深度线索都是分开的只有一个皮层区域 所有线索的深度表征还是有一个组合， 个体和通用表示法？答案决定了 深度表征对皮层损伤退化的敏感性。的 将通过易感性的功能研究来验证映射结果 每个皮层区域的深度变化和时间过程的深度 适应，以及对对比度变化不敏感。

DESCRIPTION (From the Applicant's Abstract): One of the most significant roles of the visual brain is to provide the capability of encoding spatial relations in the three-dimensional world in which we operate. From domestic activities like cooking, to extreme sports and performance skills, an adequate representation of visual (and other sensory) space is an essential prerequisites. Any defects in the representation are likely to cause significant performance deficits and impairment of the quality of life. We therefore propose a combined psychophysical and functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) approach to determine the structure of the depth representation in the human brain. The final depth representation is a cortical process that encodes the 3D structure of a scene from all available cues, integrating these specific depth cues in to a unitary depth impression, or 'depth map'. This generic depth map receives input from a range of depth cues, such as binocular disparity, motion parallax, and a host of static monocular depth cues including perspective, shading texture, blur, and contrast. A series of fMRI studies is designed to isolate the cortical processing for each individual depth cue and determine how it feeds in to the generic depth map, with the depth cues psychophysically adjusted for equal salience. Is the depth from each cue processed in a cortical representation of space that is separate for each depth cue? In there only one cortical region concerned with the representation of depth from all cues? Or is there a combination of individual and generic representations? The answers determine the degree of susceptibility of depth representation to degradation by cortical insults. The mapping results will be validated by functional studies of the susceptibility of each cortical area to depth variations and of the time course depth adaptation, and also for insensitivity to contrast variations.