Abstract
The human visual system consists of two main separate pathways, the ventral (what) and dorsal (where) pathways, which is similar to that in monkeys. The ventral pathway is involved in the processing of shapes and objects as well as color perception, whereas the dorsal pathway is responsible for processing location and motion as well as three-dimensional shape perception. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) achieves very high temporal and spatial resolution and, thus, is useful for examining the temporal and spatial characteristics of the human visual system. MEG studies previously demonstrated the following: (1) P100m was the most important component of the primary visual cortex activity and was affected by the properties of stimuli; (2) in the ventral pathway, the inferior temporal area was crucial for the perception of colors, shapes, faces, and characters; and (3) in the dorsal pathway, the occipitotemporal area, the human MT/V5 area homologue, was identified as being the most important for the perception of motion.
The ventral and dorsal pathways are both involved in face perception. The fusiform gyrus in the ventral pathway was previously shown to be activated by the static face. Furthermore, the activity of the right fusiform gyrus was affected more by the inversion of features whereas that of the left fusiform gyrus was affected more by a disruption in the spatial relationship between facial contours and features. On the other hand, the occipitotemporal area in the dorsal pathway was found to be activated by facial movements and influenced by whether these movements appeared in the contours and/or features of the face.
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Miki, K., Kakigi, R. (2016). Basic Function. In: Tobimatsu, S., Kakigi, R. (eds) Clinical Applications of Magnetoencephalography. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55729-6_7
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