{
  "id": 5117581,
  "title": "Redundant information across functionally coupled cortical networks supports rapid perceptual decisions in the ferret",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/redundant-information-across-functionally-coupled-cortical-networks",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-02T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.30.748127v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The study reveals how rapid perceptual decisions occur in ferrets by analyzing the distribution and functional interactions of stimulus information across cortical areas. Conventional methods for assessing functional connectivity can only identify statistical dependencies but do not differentiate between unique, shared, or joint information sources. Researchers employed Partial Information Decomposition (PID) to examine the timing and frequency of local field potentials (LFPs) in the auditory, visual, and parietal cortices of ferrets performing a visual and audiovisual spatial-detection task.\n\nTime and frequency-resolved analyses of LFP power and phase indicated that stimulus-side information was most prominent in theta and alpha bands, and it was more pronounced during fast responses compared to slow ones. The Partial Information Decomposition analysis on pairs of recording sites demonstrated that fast responses were linked to earlier and more intense unique information, as well as a larger relative contribution from redundancy. Additionally, during fast responses, redundancy was specifically associated with a heightened coupling in the LFP power-envelope. This analysis suggests that faster perceptual decisions in ferrets involve a frequency-specific reorganization of cortical information. This reorganization is characterized by local encoding occurring early in the process, coupled with enhanced redundant information shared between functionally interacting cortical sites.",
  "summary": "Coordinated activity across cortical areas transforms sensory inputs into perceptual decisions, yet how task-relevant information is distributed across sites and linked to functional interactions and behavior remains unclear. Conventional functional connectivity measures reveal statistical dependencies between neural signals but cannot distinguish information encoded uniquely at individual sites,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}