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Common functional pathways for texture and form vision: A single case study

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Abstract

A single case study of a patient, D.M., with a lesion in the region of the right occipito-temporal gyrus is presented. D.M. had well-preserved language and general cognitive abilities. Colour discrimination, contrast sensitivity, gross depth perception, spatial localization, and motion appreciation were within normal limits.

On the evaluation of perceptual abilities, he failed to identify two-dimensional shapes from stereoscopic vision, motion, and texture although in all cases he was able to identify the rough area subtended by the shape. These findings are considered in relation to the current anatomical-physiological functional models of vision and it is suggested that D.M.'s deficits provide evidence for the existence in man of a functional pathway involved in the computation of texture and fine aspects of shape, which is distinct from the pathways involved in motion and stereopsis processing on one hand and colour and coarse aspects of form on the other hand.

The hypothesis advanced here is that D.M.'s specific impairment occurs at a stage of visual processing at which details relating to a particular stimulus are assembled in proper local spatial relationships, although they are still not yet appreciated as parts of a shape.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligent Systems Laboratory College of Engineering and Department of Neurology School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

    Lucia M. Vaina

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The work was carried out at the New England Rehabilitation Hospital, Woburn. This research has been supported in part by the NIH US-PHS Grant NS-06209. Thanks are due to Dr. Marjorie LeMay for neuroradiological advice in the interpretation of the CT scan and the angiograms and to the Neuropsychology Department of the New England Rehabilitation Hospital for making available the neuropsychological assessment of the patient. I am grateful to John Maunsell, John Allman, Ellen Hildreth, Michael Alexander, and Helen Barbas for their extensive comments and careful reading of earlier versions of the manuscript.

Informed consent was obtained from the patient and healthy volunteers used in this work in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Vaina, L.M. Common functional pathways for texture and form vision: A single case study. Synthese 83, 93–131 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413689

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