Representation of medial axis from synchronous firing of border-ownership selective cells

Abstract

The representation of object shape in the visual system is one of the most crucial questions in brain science. Although we can perceive figure shape correctly and quickly, without any effort, the underlying cortical mechanism is largely unknown. Physiological experiment with macaque indicated the possibility that the brain represents a surface with Medial Axis (MA) representation. To examine whether early visual areas could provide basis for MA representation, we constructed the physiologically realistic, computational model of the early visual cortex, and examined what constraint is necessary for the representation of MA. Our simulation results showed that simultaneous firing of Border-Ownership (BO) selective cells at the stimulus onset is a crucial constraint for MA representation. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.