ART & ORGANISM

FILLING-IN

Excerpt from Komatsu (2006)

Review:  The neural mechanisms of perceptual filling-in by Hidehiko Komatsu (2006)  Nature Reviews Neuroscience7, 220–231.    doi:10.1038/nrn1 869 

Abstract.  Filling-in is a perceptual phenomenon in which a visual attribute such as colour, brightness, texture or motion is perceived in a region of the visual field even though such an attribute exists only in the surround. Filling-in dramatically reveals the dissociation between the retinal input and the percept, and raises fundamental questions about how these two relate to each other. Filling-in is observed in various situations, and is an essential part of our normal surface perception. Here, I review recent experiments examining brain activities associated with filling-in, and discuss possible neural mechanisms underlying this remarkable perceptual phenomenon. The evidence shows that neuronal activities in early visual cortical areas are involved in filling-in, providing new insights into visual cortical functions. 

.GLOSSARY of terms useful in study of visual perception

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IS FILLING-IN the critical element in Humor?   Read “What Makes us Laugh” from Nature 26 May 2011)

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