The Embedded Figures Test (EFT) requires observers to search for a simple geometric shape hidden inside a more complex figure. Surprisingly, performance in the EFT is negatively correlated with susceptibility to illusions of spatial orientation, such as the Roelofs effect. Using fMRI, we previously demonstrated that regions in parietal cortex are involved in the contextual processing associated with the Roelofs task. In the present study, we found that similar parietal regions (superior parietal cortex and precuneus) were more active during the EFT than during a simple matching task. Importantly, these parietal activations overlapped with regions found to be involved during contextual processing in the Roelofs illusion. Additional parietal and frontal areas, in the right hemisphere, showed strong correlations between brain activity and behavioral performance during the search task. We propose that the posterior parietal regions are necessary for processing contextual information across many different, but related visuospatial tasks, with additional parietal and frontal regions serving to coordinate this processing in participants proficient in the task.
References
[1]
Witkin HA (1950) Individual differences in ease of perception of embedded figures. J Pers 19: 1–15.
[2]
Ekstrom RB, French JW, Harman HH, Dermen D (1976) Manual for Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests. Princeton, New Jersey: Educational Testing Service.
[3]
Witkin HA, Goodenough DR (1981) Cognitive styles: essence and origins. Field dependence and field independence. Psychol Issues 1–141.
[4]
Witkin HA, Asch SE (1948) Studies in space orientation; further experiments on perception of the upright with displaced visual fields. J Exp Psychol 38: 762–782.
[5]
Witkin HA, Lewis HB, Hertzman M, Machover K, Meissner PB, et al., editors. (1954) Personality through perception. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
[6]
Bridgeman B, Peery S, Anand S (1997) Interaction of cognitive and sensorimotor maps of visual space. Percept Psychophys 59: 456–469.
[7]
Dassonville P, Bala JK (2004) Perception, action, and Roelofs effect: a mere illusion of dissociation. PLoS Biol 2: e364.
[8]
Dassonville P, Bridgeman B, Kaur Bala J, Thiem P, Sampanes A (2004) The induced Roelofs effect: two visual systems or the shift of a single reference frame? Vision Res 44: 603–611.
[9]
Walter E, Dassonville P (2008) Visuospatial contextual processing in the parietal cortex: an fMRI investigation of the induced Roelofs effect. Neuroimage 42: 1686–1697.
[10]
Manjaly ZM, Marshall JC, Stephan KE, Gurd JM, Zilles K, et al. (2003) In search of the hidden: an fMRI study with implications for the study of patients with autism and with acquired brain injury. Neuroimage 19: 674–683.
[11]
Manjaly ZM, Bruning N, Neufang S, Stephan KE, Brieber S, et al. (2007) Neurophysiological correlates of relatively enhanced local visual search in autistic adolescents. Neuroimage 35: 283–291.
[12]
Lee PS, Foss-Feig J, Henderson JG, Kenworthy LE, Gilotty L, et al. (2007) Atypical neural substrates of Embedded Figures Task performance in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neuroimage 38: 184–193.
[13]
Friston KJ, Zarahn E, Josephs O, Henson RN, Dale AM (1999) Stochastic designs in event-related fMRI. Neuroimage 10: 607–619.
[14]
Dale AM (1999) Optimal experimental design for event-related fMRI. Hum Brain Mapp 8: 109–114.
[15]
Talairach J, Tournoux J (1988) Co-planar stereotaxic atlas of the human brain. New York: Thieme.
[16]
Goebel R, Esposito F, Formisano E (2006) Analysis of functional image analysis contest (FIAC) data with brainvoyager QX: From single-subject to cortically aligned group general linear model analysis and self-organizing group independent component analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 27: 392–401.
[17]
Shannon CE, Weaver W (1949) The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
[18]
Corbetta M, Shulman GL (2002) Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 3: 201–215.
[19]
Aron AR, Robbins TW, Poldrack RA (2004) Inhibition and the right inferior frontal cortex. Trends Cogn Sci 8: 170–177.
[20]
Bunge SA, Dudukovic NM, Thomason ME, Vaidya CJ, Gabrieli JD (2002) Immature frontal lobe contributions to cognitive control in children: evidence from fMRI. Neuron 33: 301–311.
[21]
Serences JT, Shomstein S, Leber AB, Golay X, Egeth HE, et al. (2005) Coordination of voluntary and stimulus-driven attentional control in human cortex. Psychol Sci 16: 114–122.
[22]
Shah A, Frith U (1983) An islet of ability in autistic children: a research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 24: 613–620.
[23]
Jolliffe T, Baron-Cohen S (1997) Are people with autism and Asperger syndrome faster than normal on the Embedded Figures Test? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38: 527–534.
[24]
Ropar D, Mitchell P (2001) Susceptibility to illusions and performance on visuospatial tasks in individuals with autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 42: 539–549.
[25]
de Jonge MV, Kemner C, van Engeland H (2006) Superior disembedding performance of high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their parents: the need for subtle measures. J Autism Dev Disord 36: 677–683.
[26]
Baron-Cohen S, Belmonte MK (2005) Autism: a window onto the development of the social and the analytic brain. Annu Rev Neurosci 28: 109–126.
[27]
Ring HA, Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Williams SC, Brammer M, et al. (1999) Cerebral correlates of preserved cognitive skills in autism: a functional MRI study of embedded figures task performance. Brain 122(Pt 7): 1305–1315.
[28]
Baron-Cohen S, Ring H, Chitnis X, Wheelwright S, Gregory L, et al. (2006) fMRI of parents of children with Asperger Syndrome: a pilot study. Brain Cogn 61: 122–130.
[29]
Walter E, Dassonville P, Bochsler TM (2009) A specific autistic trait that modulates visuospatial illusion susceptibility. J Autism Dev Disord 39: 339–349.
[30]
Poldrack RA (2006) Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data? Trends Cogn Sci 10: 59–63.
