Perceptual Gloss Parameters Are Encoded by Population Responses in the Monkey Inferior Temporal Cortex

Abstract

There are neurons localized in the lower bank of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex of the monkey that selectively respond to specific ranges of gloss characterized by combinations of three physical reflectance parameters: specular reflectance (ρs), diffuse reflectance (ρd), and spread of specular reflection (α; Nishio et al., 2012). In the present study, we examined how the activities of these gloss-selective IT neurons are related to perceived gloss. In an earlier psychophysical study, Ferwerda et al. (2001) identified a perceptually uniform gloss space defined by two axes where the c-axis corresponds to a nonlinear combination of ρs and ρd and the d-axis corresponds to 1 - α. In the present study, we tested the responses of gloss-selective neurons to stimuli in the perceptual gloss space defined by the c- and d-axes. We found that gloss-selective neurons systematically changed their responses in the perceptual gloss space, and the distribution of the tuning directions of the population of gloss-selective neurons is biased toward directions in which perceived gloss increases. We also found that a set of perceptual gloss parameters as well as surface albedo can be well explained by the population activities of gloss-selective neurons, and that these parameters are likely encoded by the gloss-selective neurons in this area of the STS to represent various glosses. These results thus provide evidence that the IT cortex represents perceptual gloss space.