Russell Epstein

Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Psychologists have known for over 30 years that human observers can comprehend complex visual scenes at a single
glance; identifying, for example, a scene as a type of place ("kitchen") or as a specific location in the world
("Van Pelt Library").  What is the neural basis of this remarkable ability?  In this talk, I will review neuroimaging
and neuropsychological evidence for the existence of specialized systems for scene perception that are distinct from the
more well-studied systems involved in the perception of single objects. fMRI studies have identified two cortical regions
-- the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and retrosplenial complex (RSC) -- that respond more strongly when subjects
view scenes such as landscapes, cityscapes and rooms than when they view other stimuli such as faces or
decontextualized objects.  Recent evidence suggests that the PPA encodes whole-scene quantities such as layout, whereas
the RSC supports a memory retrieval mechanism that allows the local scene to be situated within the broader spatial
environment.  Thus, these two regions appear to support distinct but complementary scene recognition functions.
 I will also describe ongoing studies in our laboratory that use fMRI adaptation and multi-voxel pattern analyses
to explore the brain systems that encode a range of navigationally-relevant entities, including not only scenes and
landmarks but also routes and cognitive maps.