Neural mechanisms underlying core visual perception of objects

Thesis: Ph. D., Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-235).Visual perception of objects is a computationally challenging problem and fundamental to human well-being. Extensive previous research has revealed that the inferior temporal cortex (IT), a high-level visual area, is involved in various aspects of visual perception. Yet, little is known about: how IT neural responses to objects support human perception of the objects; and how IT responses are produced from retinal images of objects. The goal of this research is to tackle these two related questions and find out explicit, quantitative mechanisms that describe human core visual perception of objects, a remarkable ability achieved with brief (