Conference on Cognitive Computational Neuroscience

Large and small objects, such as airplanes and baseballs, are perceived to have different real-world sizes, even if they occupy the same visual angle on our retinas. Previous studies have revealed a medial-lateral gradient for real-world size in the occipito-temporal cortex, and an effect of real-world size on the spatial extent of object representations in retinotopic visual areas. However, it remains unclear if the observed patterns hold for naturalistic images where objects are located in complex and diverse settings, and if additional cortical regions have preferential tuning for real-world size. Using the large-scale fMRI Natural Scenes Dataset, we found tuning for real-world size within the occipitotemporal cortex and additional cortical regions. Consistent with prior reports, we conclude that multiple brain areas encode real-world object size. We further demonstrate that these representations are independent of object visual angle and background setting.