What fMRI has taught us about human vision

The recent application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to visual studies has begun to elucidate how the human visual system is anatomically and functionally organized. Bottom-up hierarchical processing among visual cortical areas has been revealed in experiments that have correlated brain activations with human perceptual experience. Top-down modulation of activity within visual cortical areas has been demonstrated through studies of higher cognitive processes such as attention and memory.