Skip to main content

Early Visual Processing: A Computational Approach to Understanding Primary Visual Cortex

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Bridging Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief introduction to early visual processing within the primary visual cortex (V1) and how we can use computational techniques to model these processes. After explaining the fundamentals of visual processing within the brain, we briefly introduce computational aspects of image comprehension and the similarities to the brain. Our brains have evolved to process visual information in a specific manner. This evolutionary trait is known as the efficient coding hypothesis and states that the use of a sparse neural response to stimuli allows for energy conservation within the brain. These sparse neural responses can be viewed as linear filters that resemble 2D Gabor wavelet codes. While there are multiple methods to represent these neural codes, we will discuss in more depth how an efficient coding technique, such as independent coding analysis (ICA), can represent these codes. We further explore the potential AI applications of human neuroanatomy related to early visual processing. Thus, this chapter depicts the bridging of human neuroanatomy and artificial intelligence by showing the similarities between early visual processing in mammals and computational parallels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Albert, M. V. (2015). The Brain Geography Mini-Course: a neuroscience outreach effort. Retrieved from https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&context=cs_facpubs

  • Albert, M. V., & Field, D. J. (n.d.). Neural Representation/Coding. Encyclopedia of Perception. Retrieved from https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412972000.n205

  • Barlow, H. B. (1961). Possible principles underlying the transformation of sensory messages. Sensory Communication, 1, 217–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, A. J., & Sejnowski, T. J. (1997). The ‘independent components’ of natural scenes are edge filters. Vision Research, 37(23), 3327–3338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field, D. J. (1987). Relations between the statistics of natural images and the response properties of cortical cells. Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and Image Science, 4(12), 2379–2394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubel, D. H., & Wiesel, T. N. (1962). Receptive fields, binocular interaction and functional architecture in the cat’s visual cortex. The Journal of Physiology, 160, 106–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubel, D. H., & Wiesel, T. N. (1968). Receptive fields and functional architecture of monkey striate cortex. The Journal of Physiology, 195(1), 215–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyvärinen, A., & Oja, E. (2000). Independent component analysis: Algorithms and applications. Neural Networks: The Official Journal of the International Neural Network Society, 13(4–5), 411–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kindel, W. F., Christensen, E. D., & Zylberberg, J. (2017, June 19). Using deep learning to reveal the neural code for images in primary visual cortex. arXiv [q-bio.NC]. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/abs/1706.06208

  • Lindsay, G. W. (2020). Convolutional neural networks as a model of the visual system: Past, present, and future. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naselaris, T., Prenger, R. J., Kay, K. N., Oliver, M., & Gallant, J. L. (2009). Bayesian reconstruction of natural images from human brain activity. Neuron. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627309006850

  • Olshausen, B. A., & Field, D. J. (1996). Emergence of simple-cell receptive field properties by learning a sparse code for natural images. Nature, 381(6583), 607–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olshausen, B. A., & Field, D. J. (2000). Vision and the coding of natural images: The human brain may hold the secrets to the best image-compression algorithms. American Scientist, 88(3), 238–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, V. S. N., & Domke, J. (2005, 2005). Gabor filter visualization. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urs, N., Behpour, S., Georgaras, A., & Albert, M. V. (2020). Unsupervised learning in images and audio to produce neural receptive fields: A primer and accessible notebook. Artificial Intelligence Review.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan Moye .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Moye, R., Liang, C., Albert, M.V. (2022). Early Visual Processing: A Computational Approach to Understanding Primary Visual Cortex. In: Albert, M.V., Lin, L., Spector, M.J., Dunn, L.S. (eds) Bridging Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence. Educational Communications and Technology: Issues and Innovations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84729-6_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84729-6_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-84728-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84729-6

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics