Voxelwise encoding models of body stimuli reveal a representational gradient from low-level visual features to postural features in occipitotemporal cortex

Abstract

Previous research on body representation in the brain has focused on category-specific representation, using fMRI to investigate the response pattern to body stimuli in occipitotemporal cortex. But the central question of the specific computations involved in body selective regions has not been addressed so far. This study used ultra-high field fMRI and banded ridge regression to investigate the computational mechanisms of coding body images, by comparing the performance of three encoding models in predicting brain activity in occipitotemporal cortex and specifically in the extrastriate body area (EBA). Our results indicate that bodies are encoded in occipitotemporal cortex and in the EBA according to a combination of low-level visual features and postural features.

Keywords: Banded ridge regression; Body representation; Encoding models; Extrastriate body area; Occipitotemporal cortex.