Abstract:
Previous studies have demonstrated that visual memory is improved when stimuli are processed by larger cortical regions. For example, a physically large stimulus that recruits larger areas of the retinotopic cortex is better remembered. However, the spatial extent of neural responses in the visual cortex is not only modulated by the retinal size of a stimulus, but also by the perceived size of the stimulus. In this online study, we modulated the perceived size of the visual stimuli using the Ebbinghaus illusion and asked participants to remember the stimuli. The results showed that perceptually larger images were remembered better than perceptually smaller but physically same-sized images. Our finding supports the idea that visual memory is modulated by top-down feedback from higher visual regions to the early visual cortex.
摘要:
先前的研究表明,当刺激被较大的皮质区域处理时,视觉记忆得到改善。例如,可以更好地记住物理上较大的刺激,以招募更大的视网膜皮层区域。然而,视觉皮层中神经反应的空间范围不仅受刺激的视网膜大小的调节,而且还取决于刺激的感知大小。在这项在线研究中,我们使用Ebbinghaus错觉调节视觉刺激的感知大小,并要求参与者记住刺激。结果表明,感知较大的图像比感知较小但物理大小相同的图像更好地记住。我们的发现支持了这样一种观点,即视觉记忆是由从较高视觉区域到早期视觉皮层的自上而下的反馈来调节的。