The surface area of human V1 predicts the subjective experience of object size

Dietrich Samuel Schwarzkopf (1) , Chen Song (1) , Geraint Rees (1)

1 Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging

The surface area of human primary visual cortex (V1) varies substantially between individuals for unknown reasons. Here, we show that this variability is strongly and negatively correlated with the magnitude of two common visual illusions, where two physically identical objects appear different in size due to their context. Because such illusions dissociate conscious perception from physical stimulation, our findings indicate that the surface area of V1 predicts variability in conscious experience.

Mots clés: Cognition; Neuroimaging; Behaviour; Sensory Systems

Dietrich Samuel Schwarzkopf, Chen Song, Geraint Rees. The surface area of human V1 predicts the subjective experience of object size. Nature Neuroscience, 2010, ⟨10.1038/nn.2706⟩. ⟨hal-00598182⟩