A previously undescribed scene-selective site is the key to encoding ego-motion in naturalistic environments

Current models of scene processing in the human brain include three
scene-selective areas: the Parahippocampal Place Area (or the temporal
place areas; PPA/TPA), the restrosplenial cortex (or the medial place
area; RSC/MPA) and the transverse occipital sulcus (or the occipital place
area; TOS/OPA). Here, we challenged this model by showing that at least
one other scene-selective site can also be detected within the human
posterior intraparietal gyrus. Despite the smaller size of this site
compared to the other scene-selective areas, the posterior intraparietal
gyrus scene-selective (PIGS) site was detected consistently in a large
pool of subjects (n=59; 33 females). The reproducibility of this finding
was tested based on multiple criteria, including comparing the results
across sessions, utilizing different scanners (3T and 7T) and stimulus
sets. Furthermore, we found that this site (but not the other three
scene-selective areas) is significantly sensitive to ego-motion in scenes,
thus distinguishing the role of PIGS in scene perception relative to other
scene-selective areas. These results highlight the importance of including
finer scale scene-selective sites in models of scene processing – a
crucial step toward a more comprehensive understanding of how scenes are
encoded under dynamic conditions.