The global-first topological definition of perceptual objects, and its neural correlation in anterior temporal lobe

Abstract

What is a perceptual object? This question seems to be straightforward yet its answer has become one of the most central and also controversial issues in many areas of cognitive sciences. The“global-first” topological approach ties a formal definition of perceptual objects to invariance over topological transformation, and the core intuitive notion of a perceptual object - the holistic identity preserved over shape-changing transformations - may be precisely characterized as topological invariants, such as connectivity and holes. The topological definition of objects has been verified by a fairly large set of behavioral experiments, including, for example, MOT and attention blink, which consistently demonstrated that while object identity can survive various non-topological changes, the topological change disturbs its object continuity, being perceived as an emergence of a new object. Companion fMRI experiments revealed the involvement of anterior temporal lobe, a late destination of the visual form pathway, in the topological perception and the formation of perceptual objects defined by topology. This contrast of global-first in behavior and late destination in neuroanatomy raises far-reaching issues regarding the formation of object representations in particular, and the fundamental question of “where to begin” in general.