Visual category-driven differences in memory

Adam Steel, Edward H. Silson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract / Description of output

Categorizing classes of stimuli in the real-world is thought to underlie features of general intelligence, including our ability to infer identities of new objects, environments, and people never encountered before. Our understanding of human categorization, and the neural mechanisms that underlie this ability, was initially described in the context of visual perception. It is now broadly accepted that a network of high-level visual areas on the ventral and lateral surfaces of the brain exhibit some level of “domain (or category)-selective” activity: Preferential neural responses to visual stimuli of one category more than another (e.g., larger responses to faces compared to scenes or manipulable objects). Inspired by this robust and intuitive organization, recent studies have begun investigating the extent to which human memory systems also exhibit a category-selective organization. Surprisingly, this work has revealed strong evidence for the existence of category-selective areas in swaths of cortex previously considered to be domain-general. These results suggest that category-selectivity is a general organizing principle not only of the visual cortex, but also for higher-level cortical areas involved in memory. In this chapter we review the evidence for the manifestation of visual category preferences in memory systems, and how this relates to the well-established category-selectivity exhibited within the visual cortex.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationVisual Memory
EditorsTimothy F. Brady, Wilma A. Bainbridge
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Chapter13
Pages226-245
Number of pages20
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)9781003158134
ISBN (Print)9780367744885, 9780367744878
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Publication series

NameFrontiers of Cognitive Psychology

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