Grant: Project Grant

Background and Goals: Our brains have a remarkable ability to process and make sense of the world around us through vision. In a specific part of the brain called the inferotemporal cortex, neurons are organized in a topographical manner, meaning neurons with similar functions are grouped together. These groups are specialized in recognizing different categories of objects, such as faces, body parts, or scenes. However, this is only a small part of the story; much of the visual cortex remains a mystery due to the vast number of visual patterns that its neurons might respond to. This project aims to uncover more about how these neurons are organized and how they function. The Plan: Using advanced computer models that simulate this part of the brain, this research aims to 1) simulate the known neuron clusters in the human visual cortex that are selective to specific object categories, and 2) explore and characterize the uncharted territories of this topographical landscape to reveal what neurons are tuned to recognize. Methodology: The team will use cutting-edge neural network models to simulate the topographical organization of the human visual cortex and use existing and newly collected detailed brain scans (functional MRI) to validate the model predictions. Why It Matters: Vision is central to our daily life and society. Understanding the topographical organization of the visual cortex is imperative and could significantly advance our knowledge of conditions like Prosopagnosia (face blindness) and inform future technologies that interface with our sense of sight.