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The role of temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) in global Gestalt perception

Brain Structure and Function volume 217, pages 735–746 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Grouping processes enable the coherent perception of our environment. A number of brain areas has been suggested to be involved in the integration of elements into objects including early and higher visual areas along the ventral visual pathway as well as motion-processing areas of the dorsal visual pathway. However, integration not only is required for the cortical representation of individual objects, but is also essential for the perception of more complex visual scenes consisting of several different objects and/or shapes. The present fMRI experiments aimed to address such integration processes. We investigated the neural correlates underlying the global Gestalt perception of hierarchically organized stimuli that allowed parametrical degrading of the object at the global level. The comparison of intact versus disturbed perception of the global Gestalt revealed a network of cortical areas including the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), anterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus. The TPJ location corresponds well with the areas known to be typically lesioned in stroke patients with simultanagnosia following bilateral brain damage. These patients typically show a deficit in identifying the global Gestalt of a visual scene. Further, we found the closest relation between behavioral performance and fMRI activation for the TPJ. Our data thus argue for a significant role of the TPJ in human global Gestalt perception.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. W. Grodd and the staff of the Section Experimental Research of the CNS located at the University of Tübingen for their support.

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  1. Center of Neurology, Division of Neuropsychology, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Elisabeth Huberle & Hans-Otto Karnath

  2. Department of Neurology, State Hospital Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Elisabeth Huberle

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  1. Elisabeth Huberle
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  2. Hans-Otto Karnath
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Correspondence to Elisabeth Huberle.

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Huberle, E., Karnath, HO. The role of temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) in global Gestalt perception. Brain Struct Funct 217, 735–746 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-011-0369-y

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Keywords

  • fMRI
  • Global/Local
  • Perception
  • Simultanagnosia
  • Temporal cortex
  • Parietal cortex
  • Human