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视觉特征绑定的神经机制

张砚雨^*

麦吉尔大学眼科学系视觉研究中心，蒙特利尔，魁北克 H3G 1A4，加拿大

摘要

特征绑定问题(the binding problem)是物体识别的一个基本问题，也是视觉科学研究的最重要问题之一。视觉系统在加工物体信息的过程中，需要将在早期加工阶段中彼此独立编码的视觉特征整合成完整统一的物体，这一加工过程被称为视觉特征绑定。本文首先介绍了视觉特征绑定的基本概念以及绑定机制是否存在于视觉系统中的理论及实验争论。尽管大量研究发现在视觉系统中存在同时加工两种及以上特征的神经元，但这些证据并不能证明特征绑定是基于这些双选择或多选择神经元的一种完全自动化、自下而上的加工过程，错误绑定现象的存在更加证明了特征绑定涉及更复杂的编码加工过程。其次，本文回顾了关于视觉特征绑定神经机制的研究及理论争论。视觉系统对特征的绑定，尤其是主动绑定过程(例如特征错误绑定过程)不仅需要自下而上的信息输入，更加依赖于自上而下的反馈调节信息的调控。近年来，越来越多的研究开始关注神经振荡与特征绑定的关系，这些研究发现神经同步振荡可能直接决定视觉特征的绑定过程。最后，本文总结并讨论了以往研究的局限并展望了这一领域未来的研究方向。

关键词： 视觉特征绑定; 神经机制; 早期视觉皮层; 颞顶叶皮层; 自上而下的反馈调节; 神经振荡

分类号：R339

Neural mechanisms of visual feature binding

ZHANG Yan-Yu^*

McGill Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1A4, Canada

Abstract

Integrating different visual features into a coherent object is a central challenge for the visual system, which is referred as the binding problem. Firstly, this review introduces the conception of the binding problem and the theoretical and empirical controversies regarding whether and how the binding processes are implemented in visual system. Although many neurons throughout the visual hierarchy are known to code multiple features, feature binding is recruited by visual system. Feature misbinding (or illusory conjunction) is probably the most striking evidence for the existence of the binding mechanism. Next, this review summarizes some critical issues in feature binding literature, including early binding theories, late binding theories, neural synchrony theory, the feature integration theory and re-entry processing theory. Feature binding is not a fully automatic or bottom-up processing. Reentrant connection from higher visual areas to early visual cortex (top-down processes) plays a critical role in feature binding, especially in active feature binding (i.e. feature misbinding). In addition, with electrophysiology, electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and transcranial electric stimulation (tEs) approaches, recent studies explored both correlational and causal relations between brain oscillations and feature binding, suggesting that brain oscillations are of great importance for feature binding. Finally, this review discusses some potential problems and open questions associated with visual feature binding mechanisms which need to be addressed in future studies. 

Key words: visual feature binding; neural mechanisms; early visual cortex; temporal and parietal cortex; recurrent processing; brain oscillations

收稿日期：2018-06-01　　录用日期：2018-08-21

通讯作者：张砚雨　　E-mail: yanyu.zhang@mail.mcgill.ca

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2018.0091

引用本文：

张砚雨. 视觉特征绑定的神经机制[J]. 生理学报 2019; 71 (1): 33-44.

ZHANG Yan-Yu. Neural mechanisms of visual feature binding. Acta Physiol Sin 2019; 71 (1): 33-44 (in Chinese with English abstract).