Abstract: Recently, neuroimaging studies have shown that there might be certain modules in ventral visual cortex responsible for processing certain objects. However, whether those modules are category-specific is still not clear. The present review sums the relevant issues and provides possible directions for future research. It might involve: investigating whether subordinate regions are specific, testing the topologically distributed representation hypothesis, answering how category-specific areas communicate, and revealing the cognitive mechanism of these areas.

Key words: modules, ventral visual cortex, category-specific areas, specificity