Fig. 3: Distinct object topographies in lateral and ventral OTC.

a Vector-of-ROIs analysis. The vector was generated by fitting a spline (drawn black line) connecting the PHC and the TOS and passing through a set of anchor points which coordinates were based on classically defined category-selective areas (i.e., face, body, hand, object) from previous studies. Partially overlapping spheres (n = 34) were generated along this spline, and they correspond to the ROIs analysed. Standard univariate analyses were performed on each of the ROIs (see “Methods” for details), which are visualized in white with a surface projection using Surf Ice (https://www.nitrc.org/projects/surfice/). Normalized activation (against the average of all categories) is plotted for each category as a function of the position of the vector along the cortex. The x-axis corresponds to each sphere along the vector, with labels for major anatomical landmarks; the y-axis corresponds to the normalized beta values. The vector was broadly divided into a ventral component (pink shade) and a lateral component (light blue shade). Error bars represent ± 1 SEM across participants (n = 18). b Beta values are plotted for each category’s peak activation (one sphere) separately for the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC) and lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC). Error bars represent ± 1 SEM across subjects (n = 18 participants). Each data point reflects the beta value extracted from one subject’s ROI at the category’s peak activation. PHC Parahippocampal Cortex, mFG medial Fusiform Gyrus. lFG lateral Fusiform Gyrus, OTS Occipitotemporal Sulcus, aITG anterior Inferior Temporal Gyrus, pITG posterior Inferior Temporal Gyrus, LOS Lateral Occipital Sulcus, TOS Transverse Occipital Sulcus. For all panels, red = faces; orange = bodies; yellow = hands; dark blue = tools; blue = manipulable objects; light blue = non-manipulable objects. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.