Neural correlates of minimal recognizable configurations in the human brain

Inferring object identity from incomplete information is a ubiquitous challenge for the visual system. Here, we study the neural mechanisms underlying processing of minimally recognizable configurations (MIRCs) and their subparts, which are unrecognizable (sub-MIRCs). MIRCs and sub-MIRCs are very similar at the pixel level, yet they lead to a dramatic gap in recognition performance. To evaluate how the brain processes such images, we invasively record human neurophysiological responses. Correct identification of MIRCs is associated with a dynamic interplay of feedback and feedforward mechanisms between frontal and temporal areas. Interpretation of sub-MIRC images improves dramatically after exposure to the corresponding full objects. This rapid and unsupervised learning is accompanied by changes in neural responses in the temporal cortex. These results are at odds with purely feedforward models of object recognition and suggest a role for the frontal lobe in providing top-down signals related to object identity in difficult visual tasks.