Category Learning Stretches Neural Representations in Visual Cortex.

Stretches Neural Representations in Visual Cortex

Short-latency category specific neural responses to human faces in macaque inferotemporal cortex

In this article I would present evidence to show that timing of the flow of neural signals within the ventral visual stream is a crucial part of the neural code for categorization of faces. We recorded the activity of 554 inferotemporal neurons from two macaque monkeys performing a fixation task. More than 1000 object images including human and non-primate animal faces were presented up to 10 t...

Category learning increases discriminability of relevant object dimensions in visual cortex.

Learning to categorize objects can transform how they are perceived, causing relevant perceptual dimensions predictive of object category to become enhanced. For example, an expert mycologist might become attuned to species-specific patterns of spacing between mushroom gills but learn to ignore cap textures attributable to varying environmental conditions. These selective changes in perception ...

In the Eye of the Beholder: Visual Experience and Categories in the Human Brain

How does experience change representations of visual objects in the brain? Do cortical object representations reflect category membership? In this issue of Neuron, Jiang et al. show that category training leads to sharpening of neural responses in high-level visual cortex; in contrast, category boundaries may be represented only in prefrontal cortex.

Degradation of neural representations in higher visual cortex by sleep deprivation

A night of total sleep deprivation (TSD) impairs selective attention and is accompanied by attenuated activation within ventral visual cortex (VVC). However, finer details of how TSD compromises selectivity of visual processing remain unclear. Drawing from prior work in cognitive aging, we predicted that TSD would result in dedifferentiation of neural responses for faces and houses within the V...