Visuo-haptic object perception

Vision and touch have many similarities in their processing of information, manifested in multiple behavioral similarities in terms of categorization, recognition, and individual differences. This chapter reviews how these similarities contribute to multisensory object processing. For example, similar unisensory visual and haptic representations are integrated into a multisensory representation that supports both visuo-haptic crossmodal object recognition and view-independence. These behavioral similarities between vision and touch, and the evidence for integration of visual and haptic information into a multisensory representation, imply a shared neural basis for visuo-haptic object processing. We review the evidence that several brain regions, previously thought to be specialized for aspects of visual processing, are additionally active during analogous haptic tasks. Finally, we describe a model of visuo-haptic multisensory object recognition in which the object-selective lateral occipital complex is served by both top-down and bottom-up pathways depending on object familiarity and variable involvement of object and spatial imagery processes.