Large-scale functional overlap between dorsal and ventral object-responsive networks

Large-scale functional overlap between dorsal and ventral object-responsive networks | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Large-scale functional overlap between dorsal and ventral object-responsive networks Claire Simmons, Marlene Behrmann, Vladislav Ayzenberg This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9180836/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The processes of recognizing objects and acting upon or with them have traditionally been attributed to computations associated with ventral and dorsal visual pathways, respectively. Accumulating evidence indicates that specific regions of the two pathways interact but the extent and strength of the whole-brain network connectivity remain to be evaluated. Here, in two experiments, we characterized the whole-brain network connections of object-selective seeds in each pathway using multiple analytic approaches with functional MRI data acquired while participants viewed objects. The results revealed substantial spatial overlap in connectivity in the networks generated from a dorsal and a ventral seed — with greater similarity of these object networks within an individual than the similarity of each network separately across individuals. This overlap persisted for both tools and non-tools even after controlling for the shared variance between pathways. Notably, the dorsal pathway showed overall stronger and more widespread connectivity than the ventral pathway and was a stronger source of effective connectivity across the brain. Together, these findings reveal that dorsal and ventral pathways form highly overlapping and distributed networks in the service of object perception. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Visual system/Object vision Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience/Perception Higher-order visual areas Object recognition Dorsal parietal cortex Ventral temporal cortex Functional connectivity RRID:SCR_023356 Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9180836","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619823155,"identity":"c78f4564-4197-4ddf-b0c7-20dea206146c","order_by":0,"name":"Claire Simmons","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACdgbGBx8qbBjYwDw2YrQwMzAbzjiTxsDGxky8FjZp3rbDQNXEauFvZn8gObPtfB6ffP8Bhg9lhwlrkTjMY2Dw4dztYpDDGGecI0KLATMPQ+KMstuJbUAtzGAXEtbC/uAwD9s5iJa/xGlhMGzmaTsA0cJIjBagX4wZZ5xJBvol2eBgz7l0wlr429uf//hQYZcn33zw4YMfZdaEtcBAAog4QLx6mJZRMApGwSgYBVgBAJz1NWgoFxhRAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9940-9396","institution":"Carnegie Mellon University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Claire","middleName":"","lastName":"Simmons","suffix":""},{"id":619823156,"identity":"86b706b5-0687-453c-87a0-70aaec1f3653","order_by":1,"name":"Marlene Behrmann","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3814-1015","institution":"University of Pittsburgh","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marlene","middleName":"","lastName":"Behrmann","suffix":""},{"id":619823157,"identity":"3e8d5d5c-7d71-4d81-9eaf-f7b0fb935036","order_by":2,"name":"Vladislav Ayzenberg","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vladislav","middleName":"","lastName":"Ayzenberg","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-20 16:41:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9180836/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9180836/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107480445,"identity":"baf54741-37b4-4c45-8e5b-20b6e1d39031","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-22 02:10:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1224208,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"SimmonsCommunicationsBiology.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9180836/v1_covered_a90c14ff-ce00-4456-8b7b-0fe9c3d2842a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Large-scale functional overlap between dorsal and ventral object-responsive networks","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Higher-order visual areas, Object recognition, Dorsal parietal cortex, Ventral temporal cortex, Functional connectivity, RRID:SCR_023356","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9180836/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9180836/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The processes of recognizing objects and acting upon or with them have traditionally been attributed to computations associated with ventral and dorsal visual pathways, respectively. 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