Early sensitivity of evoked potentials to surface and volumetric structure during the visual perception of three-dimensional object shape

This study used event‐related potentials (ERPs) to elucidate how the human visual system processes three‐dimensional (3‐D) object shape structure. In particular, we examined whether the perceptual mechanisms that support the analysis of 3‐D shape are differentially sensitive to higher order surface and volumetric part structure. Observers performed a whole‐part novel object matching task in which part stimuli comprised sub‐regions of closed edge contour, surfaces or volumetric parts. Behavioural response latency data showed an advantage in matching surfaces and volumetric parts to whole objects over contours, but no difference between surfaces and volumes. ERPs were analysed using a convergence of approaches based on stimulus dependent amplitude modulations of evoked potentials, topographic segmentation, and spatial frequency oscillations. The results showed early differential perceptual processing of contours, surfaces, and volumetric part stimuli. This was first reliably observed over occipitoparietal electrodes during the N1 (140–200 ms) with a mean peak latency of 170 ms, and continued on subsequent P2 (220–260 ms) and N2 (260–320 ms) components. The differential sensitivity in perceptual processing during the N1 was accompanied by distinct microstate patterns that distinguished among contours, surfaces and volumes, and predominant theta band activity around 4–7 Hz over right occipitoparietal and orbitofrontal sites. These results provide the first evidence of early differential perceptual processing of higher order surface and volumetric shape structure within the first 200 ms of stimulus processing. The findings challenge theoretical models of object recognition that do not attribute functional significance to surface and volumetric object structure during visual perception