{
  "id": 133123,
  "title": "Concurrent category-selective neural activity across the ventral occipito-temporal cortex supports a non-hierarchical view of human visual recognition",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/concurrent-category-selective-neural-activity-across-the-ventral",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-04T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "eLife",
    "slug": "elife",
    "url": "https://elifesciences.org/articles/109640"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The human visual system relies on a complex network of regions within the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC) to recognize various objects, including faces. Traditionally, this network was believed to follow a hierarchical structure, with distinct processing stages that evolve from posterior to anterior cortical areas. To challenge this notion, researchers conducted a study involving 140 participants and captured neural activity from 11,000 recording sites using electrophysiological intracerebral recordings.\n\nThe findings revealed that face-selective neural activity exhibiting high-frequency broadband (30-160 Hz) patterns was distributed throughout the VOTC, with a notable right-hemispheric dominance and specific regional peaks of activity. Interestingly, while there was a discernible progression in category-selectivity along the postero-anterior axis of the VOTC, the neural activity was largely synchronous across all regions, ranging from a 100 ms onset to a 450 ms offset. This concurrent occurrence of category-selective neural activity across the VOTC contradicts the conventional hierarchical model of visual object recognition in the human association cortex. The researchers' observations lend support to alternative models that propose a more non-hierarchical approach to this fundamental brain function.",
  "summary": "Visual recognition is a fundamental human brain function, supported by a network of regions in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC). This network is thought to be organized hierarchically, with definite processing stages increasing in invariance and time-course from posterior to anterior cortical regions. Here, we provide a stringent test of this view by measuring category-selective neural…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}