Localization of human cortical areas activated on perception of ordered and chaotic images

The aims of this study were to identify the locations of areas in the human cortex responsible for describing fragmented test images of different degrees of ordering and to identify the areas taking decisions regarding stimuli of this type. The locations of higher visual functions were determined by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a scanner fitted with a superconducting magnet and a field strength of 1.5 T. The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) method was based on measurements of the level of hemoglobin oxygenation in the blood supplied to the brain. This level was taken to be proportional to the extent of neuron activation in the corresponding part of the gray matter. Stimuli were matrixes consisting of Gabor elements of different orientations. The measure of matrix ordering was the ratio of the number of Gabor elements with identical orientations to the total number of elements in the image. Brain neurons were activated by simultaneous changes in the orientations of all the elements, leading to substitution of one matrix by another. Substitution of the orientation was perceived by observers as rotation of the elements in the matrix. Stimulation by matrixes with a high level of ordering was found to activate the occipital areas of the cortex, V1 and V2 (BA17–BA18), while presentation of matrixes with random element orientations also activated the parietal-temporal cortex, V3, V4, V5 (BA19), and the parietal area (BA7). Brain zones responsible for taking decisions regarding the level of order or chaos in the organization of the stimuli are located in different but close areas of the prefrontal and frontal cortex of the brain, including BA6, BA9, and BA10. The results are assessed in terms of concepts of the roles and interactions of different areas of the human brain during recognition of fragmented images of different degrees of complexity.