Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception.
Paper
Loaded from Europe PMC by your browser, not stored by OSCR: doi.org · Europe PMC
The paper is loaded when this pane is shown.
The authors' code
Text · 5 lines · 154 B · no license
- Instructions:
- Unzip file.
- Open MATLAB - tested in 2023 and 2024a (requires Statistics Toolbox)
- Move to directory of unzipped files.
- Run Gestalt_OA.m
README.txt, no license · at the source
Overview
- Department of Vision and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Meibergdreef 47, Amsterdam, 1105 BA the Netherlands
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl, New York, NY USA
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, VU University, De Boelelaan 1085, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Neurosurgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Visual Brain Therapy, Sorbonne Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de la Vision, Paris, 75012 France
Abstract
The Gestalt laws of perceptual organization determine which image regions in a visual scene are perceived as figures or background. Convex, enclosed, and symmetric regions are more likely to be perceived as figures, but the underlying neural mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we studied the influence of Gestalt cues on visual perception and on neuronal activity in early visual cortex. We found that, in both humans and macaques, the perceived contrast of Gabor probes was generally higher when placed on Gestalt-defined figures than on background regions, although individuals differed. Neural activity in areas V1 and V4 of the visual cortex of monkeys performing a contrast discrimination task was higher for image elements belonging to Gestalt-defined figures than image-elements of the background, except for symmetry-defined figures. We observed this figure-background modulation in both V1 and V4 even when the distinction between figure and background was irrelevant for the task of the animal. The influence of Gestalt cues on neural activity was stronger in V4 than in V1, suggesting that Gestalt organization arises through modulation of neural activity in higher visual areas, which then modulates neural activity in early visual areas through feedback.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Repository
Its files are read in the Code ↔ Paper reader above.
OSF t5rcu
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 29 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
- 29 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
1 file
- README.txt, Text, 5 lines
The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.
Tracing map
Proposed by the machine: these links were found in the paper and verified at the source, without human review. The map will receive a Zenodo DOI once one of the paper's authors has validated it with their ORCID.
What the map holds:
- 1 repository of the authors' code, each at its verified commit, with its license and how the link was found in the paper;
- 0 scripts, each with its path and the digest of its content;
- no match between paragraphs and code yet;
- neither the text of the paper nor the code itself.
Its JSON (tracing-map.json) is deposited on Zenodo with its DOI once the map is validated.
Data
No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.
Data availability
All data and analysis scripts are publicly available: https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.
Version 1, 29 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 4 authors, 9 keywords, 13 MeSH terms, 6 funders, 66 references.
Cite
This paper
van Ham, A. F., Jeurissen, D., Self, M. W., & Roelfsema, P. R. (2026). Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception. Scientific reports, 16(1), 11685. https://
BibTeX
@article{vanham2026gesta
author = {van Ham, Anne F and Jeurissen, Danique and Self, Matthew W and Roelfsema, Pieter R},
title = {{Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception}},
journal = {Scientific reports},
year = {2026},
month = apr,
volume = {16},
number = {1},
pages = {11685},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
issn = {2045-2322},
doi = {10.1038/
url = {https://
pmid = {41946757},
pmcid = {PMC13061894}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - van Ham, Anne F
AU - Jeurissen, Danique
AU - Self, Matthew W
AU - Roelfsema, Pieter R
TI - Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception
T2 - Scientific reports
J2 - Sci Rep
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 16
IS - 1
SP - 11685
SN - 2045-2322
PB - Nature Publishing Group
DO - 10.1038/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
{
"id": "10.1038/
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception",
"container-title": "Scientific reports",
"author": [
{
"family": "van Ham",
"given": "Anne F"
},
{
"family": "Jeurissen",
"given": "Danique"
},
{
"family": "Self",
"given": "Matthew W"
},
{
"family": "Roelfsema",
"given": "Pieter R"
}
],
"container-title-short":
"volume": "16",
"issue": "1",
"page": "11685",
"DOI": "10.1038/
"PMID": "41946757",
"PMCID": "PMC13061894",
"ISSN": "2045-2322",
"publisher": "Nature Publishing Group",
"URL": "https://
"language": "en",
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026,
4,
7
]
]
}
}
The tracing map gets a citation of its own once an author has validated it and it has a DOI.
Similar papers
The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.
- [1] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72146-9 [code]
- Modeling attention and binding in the brain through bidirectional recurrent gating.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: 8 references
- [2] doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014193 [code]
- How the visual brain can learn to parse images using a multiscale, incremental grouping process.Journal: PLoS computational biologyIn common: non-human primate, 4 references
- [3] doi:10.7554/elife.105482 [code]
- Principles of gamma synchrony predict figure-ground perception in texture stimuli.Journal: eLifeIn common: 4 references
- [4] doi:10.3389/fnins.2026.1794676 [code]
- Occipital and parietal non-invasive brain stimulation enhances perceptual learning and transfer: evidence from high-frequency tRNS.Journal: Frontiers in neuroscienceIn common: 4 references
- [5] doi:10.1162/imag.a.1207 [code]
- Investigating the temporal dynamics and modeling of mid-level feature representations in humans.Journal: Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)In common: 4 references
- [6] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74818-y [code]
- Stable readout of visual representations mediates flexible generalization.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: non-human primate, 3 references
- [7] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74816-0 [code]
- Hierarchical optimization predicts plasticity in the macaque inferior temporal cortex following object training.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: non-human primate, 3 references
- [8] doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014752 [code]
- Hierarchical feature binding in a spiking neural network model of the primate ventral visual pathway.Journal: PLoS computational biologyIn common: 3 references
- [9] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72619-x [code]
- An inhibitory brainstem pathway reduces visual detection during background motion.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: 3 references
- [10] doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014434 [code]
- Non-invasive mapping of the temporal processing hierarchy in the human visual cortex.Journal: PLoS computational biologyIn common: 3 references
Contribute
The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.
Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.
Claim this paper
Correct its record
Say what each link of this record is, remove the ones that are not the paper's, add the ones that are missing. The correction becomes a new version of the record, in its Versions section.
Validate its tracing map
You validate the map as this page shows it: 1 repository of the authors' code, each at its verified commit and with its license, 0 scripts, and 0 matches between paragraphs and code (see the Code and Map sections). It then receives a DOI on Zenodo, with you (your ORCID iD) and OSCR as its creators; the code itself is not deposited.
The map's fingerprint: sha256:42c7de782dcc00b3…
Add the badge to its README
The badge links the code to this page. Copy one of these into the README of the paper's code: only you decide where it goes, and nothing is changed for you.
Markdown
[.
Discussion, reproductions, activity
Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.
Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.
Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.