Why do our eyes tend to be drawn to certain shapes, colors and silhouettes more than others? For more than half a century, researchers have known that neurons in the brain's visual system respond more to some images than others—a feature that is critical for the ability to recognize, understand and interpret the multitude of visual clues surrounding us. For example, specific populations of visual neurons in an area of the brain known as the inferior temporal cortex fire more when people or other primates—animals with highly attuned and visual systems—look at faces, places, objects or text.
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