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Neuroanatomical correlates of visual car expertise

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 14:33 authored by Sharon Gilaie-Dotan, Assaf Harel, Shlomo Bentin, Ryota Kanai, Geraint Rees
Expertise in non-visual domains such as musical performance is associated with differences in gray matter volume of particular regions of the human brain. Whether this is also the case for expertise in visual object recognition is unknown. Here we tested whether individual variability in the ability to recognize car models, from novice performance to high level of expertise, is associated with specific structural changes in gray matter volume. We found that inter-individual variability in expertise with cars was significantly and selectively correlated with gray matter volume in prefrontal cortex. Inter-individual differences in the recognition of airplanes, that none of the participants had expertise with, were correlated with structural variability of regions bordering the visual cortex. These results highlight the role of prefrontal regions outside the visual cortex in accessing and processing visual knowledge about objects from the domain of expertise and suggest that expertise in visual object recognition may entail structural changes in regions associated with semantic knowledge.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

NeuroImage

ISSN

1095-9572

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

1

Volume

62

Page range

147-153

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-03-11

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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