Neural Encoding Geometry of Human Voluntary Visual Selection
Selecting relevant targets from competing alternatives is a core cognitive function. While human visual selection can be tracked with high spatiotemporal precision, it remains unsolved how selected targets and non-selected alternatives are neurally encoded to effectively separate them. Building on recent work revealing the neural encoding geometry underlying target selection in animals, we here…
The ability to selectively choose relevant targets from competing alternatives is a crucial cognitive function for humans. While visual selection processes can be tracked with great precision over time and space, the underlying neural encoding mechanisms have remained unclear. Recent research has shown that animals use neural encoding geometry to encode target selection effectively.
This study aimed to investigate how the representation of selected targets and non-selected alternatives changes during human voluntary selection.
In the early stages, both selected and non-selected objects were represented with similar spatial selectivity in the brain. However, after approximately 300-350 milliseconds, the selected target began to exhibit stronger neural representation compared to the non-selected alternatives. To further analyze this, the researchers employed a technique called cross-decoding.
This method revealed that both selected and non-selected objects were encoded along a shared sensory axis. Additionally, the selected targets were encoded along an extra spatially selective axis. This unique encoding geometry allowed the brain to effectively separate the selected targets from the non-selected alternatives in neural space.
The findings of this study were consistent across various selection conditions. The researchers observed comparable results in both instructed and free-choice selections, as well as in delayed oculomotor and covert visual selections. These consistent results across different selection situations highlight the robustness of this neural encoding mechanism in human voluntary selection.
Overall, this research demonstrates that the human brain employs a specialized neural encoding strategy to prioritize behaviorally relevant information during voluntary selection. By encoding selected targets along an additional spatial axis, the brain is able to effectively distinguish between the desired target and the competing distractors.
This discovery sheds light on the neural mechanisms involved in human voluntary selection and provides valuable insights into the complex processes underlying our cognitive abilities.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
