Features, objects, action: The cognitive neuropsychology of visual object processing, 1984–2004

Abstract

We review evidence on the cognitive neuropsychology of visual object processing, from 1984–2004, dividing the work according to whether it deals with the analysis of visual features, objects, or the relations between object processing and action. Research across this period has led to (1) a more detailed analysis of disorders of feature processing and feature binding, (2) a finer-grained understanding of disorders of object recognition, how these disorders can change over time, and their relations to visual imagery, and (3) new accounts of the relations between vision and action. Cognitive neuropsychological studies have played a key part in furthering our understanding of the functional nature of object processing in the brain.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council and the Biology and Biotechnology Research Council (UK), the Stroke Association, and the Wellcome Trust.

Notes

Single case studies may have played a particularly important role in understanding disorders of early processes in object recognition because these processes are likely to be bilaterally represented, so that patients would need to have bilateral damage in order for a clinical deficit to become apparent. Given the relative rarity of isolated bilateral lesions, there are pragmatic constraints on group studies.