A deep learning model of dorsal and ventral visual streams for DVSD

Abstract

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) methods attempt to simulate the behavior and the neural activity of the brain. In particular, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) offer state-of-the-art models of the ventral visual stream. Furthermore, no proposed model estimates the distance between objects as a function of the dorsal stream. In this paper, we present a quantitatively accurate model for the visual system. Specifically, we propose a VeDo-Net model that comprises both ventral and dorsal branches. As in the ventral visual stream, our model recognizes objects. The model also locates and estimates the distance between objects as a spatial relationship task performed by the dorsal stream. One application of the proposed model is in the simulation of visual impairments. In this study, however, we show how the proposed model can simulate the occurrence of dorsal stream impairments such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and cerebral visual impairment (CVI). In the end, we explore the impacts of learning on the recovery of the synaptic disruptions of the dorsal visual stream. Results indicated a direct relationship between the positive and negative changes in the weights of the dorsal stream’s last layers and the output of the dorsal stream under an allocentric situation. Our results also demonstrate that visual–spatial perception impairments in ASD may be caused by a disturbance in the last layers of the dorsal stream.

Keywords

• Visual system
• Dorsal stream
• Ventral stream
• Convolutional neural networks
• ASD spectrum disorder
• Computational neuroscience