Functional anatomy of object recognition in humans: evidence from positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

The ability to recognize elements of the environment as familiar objects, events, or classes underlies virtually all human cognition. Positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of the recognition of visually presented objects suggest that several brain areas crucially support this function. However, a review of these findings reveals great variability in the cortical localization of object recognition in humans. Although there is converging evidence for the importance of the temporal and occipitotemporal cortex in object recognition, a consistent picture of the functional organization within these areas and their relation to function in other cortical regions has not yet emerged from brain imaging studies.