Achromatic shape processing in the inferotemporal cortex of the macaque

The responses of single neurones in the inferior temporal cortex of awake macaque monkeys to chromatic and achromatic stimuli were investigated, with the aim of determining whether colour-independent processing occurs in this last unimodal area of the ventral visual pathway. There were no differences in the firing rate of the responses (responsiveness) or the selectivity of the inferior temporal neurons towards greyscale and coloured images. The latency of the responses was the same in the two condidons. These results stress the importance of the inferior temporal cortex in colour-independent object recognition. (C) 2005 Lippincott Williams Wilkins.