Brain Activity in Response to Visual Symmetry

Bertamini, Marco ORCID: 0000-0001-8617-6864 and Makin, Alexis DJ ORCID: 0000-0002-4490-7400 (2014) Brain Activity in Response to Visual Symmetry. SYMMETRY-BASEL, 6 (4). pp. 975-996.

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Abstract

A number of studies have explored visual symmetry processing by measuring event related potentials and neural oscillatory activity. There is a sustained posterior negativity (SPN) related to the presence of symmetry. There is also functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity in extrastriate visual areas and in the lateral occipital complex. We summarise the evidence by answering six questions. (1) Is there an automatic and sustained response to symmetry in visual areas? Answer: Yes, and this suggests automatic processing of symmetry. (2) Which brain areas are involved in symmetry perception? Answer: There is an extended network from extrastriate areas to higher areas. (3) Is reflection special? Answer: Reflection is the optimal stimulus for a more general regularity-sensitive network. (4) Is the response to symmetry independent of view angle? Answer: When people classify patterns as symmetrical or random, the response to symmetry is view-invariant. When people attend to other dimensions, the network responds to residual regularity in the image. (5) How are brain rhythms in the two hemispheres altered during symmetry perception? Answer: Symmetry processing (rather than presence) produces more alpha desynchronization in the right posterior regions. Finally, (6) does symmetry processing produce positive affect? Answer: Not in the strongest sense, but behavioural measures reveal implicit positive evaluation of abstract symmetry.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Published as: Bertamini, M.; Makin, A.D. Brain Activity in Response to Visual Symmetry. Symmetry 2014, 6, 975-996.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	visual perception, V1, ERP, fMRI, TMS, alpha desynchronization
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	22 Apr 2015 14:23
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2022 13:03
DOI:	10.3390/sym6040975
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/2010301