Neural representation of objects in space: a dual coding account

Abstract

I present evidence on the nature of object coding in the brain and discuss the implications of this coding for models of visual selective attention. Neuropsychological studies of task–based constraints on: (i) visual neglect; and (ii) reading and counting, reveal the existence of parallel forms of spatial representation for objects: within–object representations, where elements are coded as parts of objects, and between–object representations, where elements are coded as independent objects. Aside from these spatial codes for objects, however, the coding of visual space is limited. We are extremely poor at remembering small spatial displacements across eye movements, indicating (at best) impoverished coding of spatial position per se . Also, effects of element separation on spatial extinction can be eliminated by filling the space with an occluding object, indicating that spatial effects on visual selection are moderated by object coding. Overall, there are separate limits on visual processing reflecting: (i) the competition to code parts within objects; (ii) the small number of independent objects that can be coded in parallel; and (iii) task–based selection of whether within– or between–object codes determine behaviour. Between–object coding may be linked to the dorsal visual system while parallel coding of parts within objects takes place in the ventral system, although there may additionally be some dorsal involvement either when attention must be shifted within objects or when explicit spatial coding of parts is necessary for object identification.