Psychology 830:637   Seminar in Cognition:   Parallel Visual Systems   Dr Ilona Kovács   Spring 2001   W (9:50-12:50)   Classroom:  A114  Psych Building - Busch

Description: The goal is to review recent evidence with respect to the functional dissociation between the two major visual pathways in humans (one mediating the visual control of action, and the other responsible for conscious visual perception). The focus will be on neuropsychological and psychophysical studies, but we will also cover some anatomical and neurophysiological findings. Phylogenetic and ontogenetic development of the two systems will be discussed as well.

Course format: It will be an advanced seminar focused on readings. The instructor will set the stage by a lecture in the first part of each class. In the second part of each class, the instructor and students will discuss the readings together.

Office hours:
 Wednesday, 1:00-2:00 p.m., Busch Psychology A123 (Dr. Kovács)
 Appointments may be made after class.

Contact: e-mail

Readings:

• A number of recent papers will be reviewed.  The papers are all available in pdf format below.
• To promote the understanding of the papers, a beautifully illustrated book is available at the Livingstone Bookstore: Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter (U. Calif. Press, 1999) - it's worth the money!

• Each student will be assigned one or two papers. The list below has papers accessible for students at different levels of neuroscientific knowledge. The assigned papers will be reviewed in class in the form of a presentation (30 to 60 minutes, depending on the length of the material).
• There will be  one take-home written assignment:  students will describe a theoretical question related to the material (discussed in the introduction with detailed references), and try to address it experimentally. They will describe the methods and design of the experiment, and their predictions with respect to the outcome. The experiment will not be carried out. The papers should be between 5 to 10 pages, and should be turned in by April 25.
• Students will carry out an extensive literature search in which they will use databases (e.g. PubMed, Science Direct, ISI) to find articles on the last topic of the semester.

• The  presentations will contribute 40% to the grade.
• The written assignment will contribute 40% to the grade.
• The literature search will contribute 10% to the grade.
• Class attendance will be part of the grade and will contribute 10%
• Extra credits can be earned by bringing in readings that are relevant to the topics.

2. Intro on modularity of vision

A visible difference. Goodale MA [pdf][PubMed]  2 pages

The theory of multistage integration in the visual brain.  Bartels A, Zeki S [pdf][PubMed]  9 pages

The autonomy of the visual systems and the modularity of conscious vision.  Zeki S, Bartels A [pdf][PubMed]  3 pages

Single Units and Visual Cortical Organization Lennie P [pdf] [Perception] 46 pages

Vision: modular analysis--or not?  Burr D [pdf][PubMed]  3 pages
 

3. Update on the two visual systems

3.1 Action/Perception

Independent effects of pictorial displays on perception and action. Haffenden AM, Goodale MA. [pdf] [PubMed]  problems printing pdf, 11 pages

Grasping after a delay shifts size-scaling from absolute to relative metrics. Goodale MA, Hy Y. [pdf][PubMed]  13 pages
 

3.2 Dorsal

Intention-related activity in the posterior parietal cortex: a review. Snyder LH, Batista AP, Andersen RA, Vision Research 40 (2000) 1433-1441
 

Models of the Posterior Parietal Cortex Which Perform Multimodal Integration and Represent Space in Several Coordinate Frames. Jing Xing and Richard A. Andersen [pdf][JCogNeurosci]  14 pages

Auditory and Visual Spatial Localization Deficits Following Bilateral Parietal Lobe Lesions in a Patient
with Balint's Syndrome. M.L. Phan, K.L. Schendel, G.H. Recanzone and L.C. Robertson, [pdf][JCogNeurosci] 17 pages
 

3.3 Ventral

An fMRI study of the selective activation of human extrastriate form vision areas by radial and concentric gratings. Wilkinson F, James TW, Wilson HR, Gati JS, Menon RS, Goodale MA. [pdf][PubMed] problems printing pdf, 4 pages

Activation Timecourse of Ventral Visual Stream Object-recognition Areas: High Density Electrical
Mapping of Perceptual Closure Processes. Glen M. Doniger, John J. Foxe, Micah M. Murray, Beth A. Higgins, Joan Gay Snodgrass, Charles E. Schroeder and Daniel C. Javitt. [pdf][JCognNeurosci] 7 pages

Brain Areas Involved in Perception of Biological Motion. E. Grossman, M. Donnelly, R. Price, D. Pickens, V. Morgan, G. Neighbor and R. Blake [pdf] PubMed [JCogNeurosci] 9 pages

Pantomimed actions may be controlled by the ventral visual stream. Westwood DA, Chapman CD, Roy EA [pdf] [PubMed] 4 pages
 

4. Normal development

4.1 Psychophysics of contour integration

I. Kovacs, P. Kozma, A. Feher and G. Benedek: Late maturation of visual spatial integration in humans. full text in pdf | PubMed |  PNAS online 6 pages

I. Kovács: Human development of perceptual organization.full text in pdf | PubMed | Science Direct 9 pages

4.2 Model

A neural model of how horizontal and interlaminar connections of visual cortex develop into adult circuits that carry
out perceptual grouping and learning Grossberg S, Williamson JR [pdf] [PubMed] 21 pages

4.3 Anatomy

Growth patterns in the developing brain detected by using continuum mechanical tensor maps.
Thompson PM, Giedd JN, Woods RP, MacDonald D, Evans AC, Toga AW pdf[PubMed]  4 pages

Neurogenesis in the adult brain. Gross C.G. pdf
 
 

5. Abnormal development

5.1 Amblyopia

L Kiorpes, DC Kieper, LP O'Keefe, JR Cavanaugh, JA Movshon: Neuronal correlates of amblyopia in the visual cortex of macaque monkeys with experimental strabismus and anisometropia. J. Neurosci, 18(16):6411-6424, 1998

P. M. Pennefather, A. Chandna, I. Kovacs. U. Polat and A. M. Norcia: Contour detection threshold: repeatability and learning with "contour cards."Spatial Vision,, 2(3):257-266, 1999. PubMed

I. Kovács, U. Polat, A. M. Norcia, P. M. Pennefather and A. Chandna: A new test of contour integration deficits in patients with a history of disrupted binocular experience during visual development. full text in pdf | PubMed | Science Direct

A. Chandna, P. Pennefather, I. Kovács, A.M. Norcia: Contour integration deficits in anisometropic amblyopia.Investigative Opthalmology and Visual Sciences, in press
 

5.2 Williams Syndrome: a dorsal issue?

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience volume 12 Suppl 1

Preface on Williams Syndrome
Marie St. George and Ursula Bellugi. pdf

The Neurocognitive Profile of Williams Syndrome: A Complex Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses.
Ursula Bellugi, Liz Lichtenberger, Wendy Jones, Zona Lai and Marie St. George. pdf

Electrophysiological Studies of Face Processing in Williams Syndrome.
Debra L. Mills, Twyla D. Alvarez, Marie St. George, Lawrence G. Appelbaum, Ursula Bellugi and Helen Neville. pdf
(Fine Discrimination of Faces can be Performed Rapidly. Sidney R. Lehky pdfJCognNeurosci)

Neuroanatomy of Williams Syndrome: A High-Resolution MRI Study.
Allan L. Reiss, Stephan Eliez, J. Eric Schmitt, Erica Straus, Zona Lai, Wendy Jones and Ursula Bellugi.pdf

Multi-Level Analysis of Cortical Neuroanatomy in Williams Syndrome.
Albert M. Galaburda and Ursula Bellugi pdf

Genome Structure and Cognitive Map of Williams Syndrome.
Julie R. Korenberg, Xiao-Ning Chen, Hamao Hirota, Zona Lai, Ursula Bellugi, Dennis Burian, Bruce Roe and
Rumiko Matsuoka pdf
 

5.3 Dyslexia: a magno issue?

The neurological basis of developmental dyslexia: An overview and working hypothesis. Habib M [pdf][PubMed] 27 pages
 
 

6. Phylogenetic aspects