Subcortical magnocellular visual system facilities object recognition by processing topological property

The Magnocellular (M) visual pathway is known as a fast route to convey coarse information and facilitates object recognition by initiating top-down processes. It is unclear what exact properties M pathway conveys to accelerate visual object processing. Previous studies suggest that visual systems are highly sensitive to the perception of topological property (TP), which remains unchanged under various shape changes, and the TP is probably processed through a fast subcortical pathway. Here we hypothesize that a subcortical M system contributes to the fast object recognition by processing TP first. We first demonstrate that the facilitation effect of TP processing on object perception occurs mainly in the M visual system, and then support the subcortical M hypothesis of TP processing by the evidence that the early processing of TP was not affected when cortical function was temporarily damaged by the transcranial magnetic stimulation and when stimuli were biased to M system.