On January 2, 2025, Michelle Greene, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience & behavior, published new research in Scientific Reports, “The brain prioritizes the basic level of object category abstraction.”
Greene and her colleague Alyssa Magill Rohan explain that although objects can often be described at multiple levels of abstraction, such as “parka,” “coat,” or “clothing,” human observers consistently name objects at a mid-level of specificity known as the “basic level.” To better understand the neurobehavioral factors that constitute this “basic level,” the researchers used electroencephalogram (EEG) testing to monitor brain activity. At the same time, study participants viewed 1,080 objects arranged in a three-tier category taxonomy.
Greene and Rohan found that brain activity reflected basic-level category information starting around 50 milliseconds after first viewing the objects. The researchers mapped this brain activity as it moved from posterior electrodes through lateral to anterior sites of the brain. Overall, Greene and Rohan assert these results support the idea that basic-level categorization is an automatic and obligatory process.