Neural Constraints on the Development of Perceptual Completion: A Computational Account

Recent work by Amso and Johnson implicates the role of visual selective attention in the development of perceptual completion during early infancy. This finding is extended by simulating the performance of 3-month-olds on a visual search task, using a multi-channel, image-filtering model of early visual processing. Model parameters were systematically varied to simulate developmental change in three neural components of visual selective attention: degree of oculomotor noise, growth of horizontal connections in visual cortex, and duration of recurrent processing in parietal cortex. While two of the three components—horizontal connections and recurrent parietal processing—are each able to account for the visual search performance of 3-month-olds, recurrent parietal processing also suggests a coherent pattern of developmental change in visual selective attention during early infancy. We conclude by highlighting plausible neural mechanisms for modulating recurrent parietal activity, including the development of feedback from prefrontal cortex. Index Terms – perceptual completion, visual search, attentional modulation, neural constraints