Multivoxel Coding of Visual Stimuli is Flexible: Frontoparietal and Visual Cortices Adapt to Code the Currently Relevant Distinction

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Multivoxel Coding of Visual Stimuli is Flexible: Frontoparietal and Visual Cortices Adapt to Code the Currently Relevant Distinction Jade Jackson1, 2*, Anina N. Rich1, 2, Mark A. Williams1, 2 and Alexandra Woolgar2, 3 1 Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, MQ, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Cognitive Science, MQ, Australia 3 Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, MQ, Australia Human cognition is characterised by astounding flexibility, which enables us to select which cognitive process to engage to best succeed in our current objective. However, we have, at present, an incomplete understanding of how such flexibility could be implemented in the brain. There is a well-defined circuit of frontal and parietal areas, referred to as multiple-demand (MD) regions, that are believed to play a fundamental role. The proposal is that MD regions dynamically adjust their responses in order to selectively process information that is currently relevant for behaviour ("adaptive coding hypothesis", Duncan 2001). We tested this hypothesis using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while subjects performed a perceptually challenging discrimination task on novel abstract objects. Subjects were trained to classify objects along two orthogonal dimensions, dependent on current task context (length or orientation, indicated by a cue). In the scanner subjects performed short (2 minute) alternating blocks of the length and orientation tasks. We predicted that multi-voxel patterns of activation in the MD regions would adjust to code the stimulus distinction that was currently relevant for the task (i.e. to code for stimulus length, but not orientation, when length was relevant, and vice versa). In line with our prediction only the task-relevant stimulus distinctions (length in length task, and orientation in orientation task), and not the task-irrelevant ones, were coded in the MD regions. Interestingly, object-selective cortex in the lateral occipital complex (LOC) also adjusted to code relevant but not irrelevant stimulus distinctions, underscoring this region's role in demanding visual tasks. In line with the adaptive coding hypothesis, the data suggest a flexible neural system that adjusts its representation of visual objects to encode only the stimulus distinctions that are currently relevant for behaviour. Keywords: decision-making, functional MRI, MVPA, cognitive flexibility, task-relevance, multiple-demand regions Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Cognition and Executive Processes Citation: Jackson J, Rich AN, Williams M and Woolgar A (2015). Multivoxel Coding of Visual Stimuli is Flexible: Frontoparietal and Visual Cortices Adapt to Code the Currently Relevant Distinction. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00234 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Ms. Jade Jackson, Perception in Action Research Centre (PARC), Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Human Sciences, MQ, Sydney, Australia, jade.jackson@mq.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jade Jackson Anina N Rich Mark A. Williams Alexandra Woolgar Google Jade Jackson Anina N Rich Mark A. Williams Alexandra Woolgar Google Scholar Jade Jackson Anina N Rich Mark A. Williams Alexandra Woolgar PubMed Jade Jackson Anina N Rich Mark A. Williams Alexandra Woolgar Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.