Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation

The human brain possesses a remarkable ability to recognize scenes depicted in line drawings, despite that these drawings contain only edge information. It remains unclear how the brain uses this information alongside surface information in scene recognition. Here, we combined electroencephalogram (...

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Main Authors: Liansheng Yao, Qiufang Fu, Chang Hong Liu, Jianyong Wang, Zhang Yi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001028
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author Liansheng Yao
Qiufang Fu
Chang Hong Liu
Jianyong Wang
Zhang Yi
author_facet Liansheng Yao
Qiufang Fu
Chang Hong Liu
Jianyong Wang
Zhang Yi
author_sort Liansheng Yao
collection DOAJ
description The human brain possesses a remarkable ability to recognize scenes depicted in line drawings, despite that these drawings contain only edge information. It remains unclear how the brain uses this information alongside surface information in scene recognition. Here, we combined electroencephalogram (EEG) and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) methods to distinguish the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in scene representation at the basic category level and superordinate naturalness level over time. The time-resolved decoding results indicated that edge information in line drawings is both sufficient and more effective than in color photographs and grayscale images at the superordinate naturalness level. Meanwhile, color and other surface information are exclusively involved in neural representation at the basic category level. The time generalization analysis further revealed that edge information is crucial for representation at both levels of abstraction. These findings highlight the distinct roles of edge, color, and other surface information in dynamic neural scene processing, shedding light on how the human brain represents scene information at different levels of abstraction.
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publishDate 2025-04-01
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spelling doaj-art-4f45a1d1073f4742a22fecff5173c0b72025-08-20T02:26:08ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-04-0131012110010.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121100Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representationLiansheng Yao0Qiufang Fu1Chang Hong Liu2Jianyong Wang3Zhang Yi4State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Corresponding author at: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, UKMachine Intelligence Laboratory, College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, ChinaMachine Intelligence Laboratory, College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, ChinaThe human brain possesses a remarkable ability to recognize scenes depicted in line drawings, despite that these drawings contain only edge information. It remains unclear how the brain uses this information alongside surface information in scene recognition. Here, we combined electroencephalogram (EEG) and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) methods to distinguish the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in scene representation at the basic category level and superordinate naturalness level over time. The time-resolved decoding results indicated that edge information in line drawings is both sufficient and more effective than in color photographs and grayscale images at the superordinate naturalness level. Meanwhile, color and other surface information are exclusively involved in neural representation at the basic category level. The time generalization analysis further revealed that edge information is crucial for representation at both levels of abstraction. These findings highlight the distinct roles of edge, color, and other surface information in dynamic neural scene processing, shedding light on how the human brain represents scene information at different levels of abstraction.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001028Scene representationEdge informationSurface informationBasic level of categorySuperordinate level of naturalness
spellingShingle Liansheng Yao
Qiufang Fu
Chang Hong Liu
Jianyong Wang
Zhang Yi
Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
NeuroImage
Scene representation
Edge information
Surface information
Basic level of category
Superordinate level of naturalness
title Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
title_full Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
title_fullStr Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
title_full_unstemmed Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
title_short Distinguishing the roles of edge, color, and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
title_sort distinguishing the roles of edge color and other surface information in basic and superordinate scene representation
topic Scene representation
Edge information
Surface information
Basic level of category
Superordinate level of naturalness
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925001028
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AT qiufangfu distinguishingtherolesofedgecolorandothersurfaceinformationinbasicandsuperordinatescenerepresentation
AT changhongliu distinguishingtherolesofedgecolorandothersurfaceinformationinbasicandsuperordinatescenerepresentation
AT jianyongwang distinguishingtherolesofedgecolorandothersurfaceinformationinbasicandsuperordinatescenerepresentation
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