Perceptual foundations of relational thinking

Classic models of visual perception pose that the ultimate goal of vision is object recognition. Recent

research suggests that visual perception is more sophisticated, representing the objects as well as the

relations holding between them. Relational representations are a major research focus in cognitive

science, as they play a central role in human reasoning, language and social life. Yet, how they come

about in the human mind/brain remains largely unknown. In ViSyRelPer, I study the role of the visual

system in encoding relations, under the hypothesis that perception realizes the early stages of relational

representation. I focus on two categories of relations: causal and social-interact. First, I use frequency-

tagging electroencephalography (FTEEG) to measure the automatic neural response of the visual system

to visual stimulation, and study whether: a) such response is evoked during observation of relational

events (e.g. for causal relation: collision events) and b) generalizes to different instantiations of the same

relation (e.g. for causal relation: launching and pulling events). Generalization would imply that the visual

response reflects the representation of a relation, above and beyond the specific objects involved.

Second, I use transcranial magnetic stimulation to interfere with activity in visuoperceptual brain areas

while participants perform judgments on relational events. This study proves a causal role of visual areas

in relation processing, thus substantiating the hypothesis of relation perception. Third, I use the above

FTEEG approach to study perception of social and causal relations in individuals with autism spectrum

disorder. I will investigate whether alterations in the visuoperceptual stages of relation representation

could be a marker of difficulties in the disorder, as raised in latest research. This program will offer new

avenues to discover the perceptual groundings of relational thinking underlying the complexity of human cognition.