Intermingled Ensembles in Visual Association Cortex Encode Stimulus Identity or Predicted Outcome

Abstract

The response of a cortical neuron to a motivationally salient visual stimulus can reflect a prediction of the associated outcome, a sensitivity to low-level stimulus features, or a mix of both. To distinguish between these alternatives, we monitored responses to visual stimuli in the same lateral visual association cortex neurons across weeks, both prior to and after reassignment of the outcome associated with each stimulus. We observed correlated ensembles of neurons with visual responses that either tracked the same predicted outcome, the same stimulus orientation, or that emerged only following new learning. Visual responses of outcome-tracking neurons encoded "value," as they demonstrated a response bias to salient, food-predicting cues and sensitivity to reward history and hunger state. Strikingly, these attributes were not evident in neurons that tracked stimulus orientation. Our findings suggest a division of labor between intermingled ensembles in visual association cortex that encode predicted value or stimulus identity.