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Identifying natural images from human brain activity

Author

Listed:
  • Kendrick N. Kay

    (University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

  • Thomas Naselaris

    (Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

  • Ryan J. Prenger

    (University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

  • Jack L. Gallant

    (University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
    Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)

Abstract

Reading the mind Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown that, based on patterns of activity evoked by different categories of visual images, it is possible to deduce simple features in the visual scene, or to which category it belongs. Kay et al. take this approach a tantalizing step further. Their newly developed decoding method, based on quantitative receptive field models that characterize the relationship between visual stimuli and fMRI activity in early visual areas, can identify with high accuracy which specific natural image an observer saw, even for an image chosen at random from 1,000 distinct images. This prompts the thought that it may soon be possible to decode subjective perceptual experiences such as visual imagery and dreams, an idea previously restricted to the realm of science fiction.

Suggested Citation

  • Kendrick N. Kay & Thomas Naselaris & Ryan J. Prenger & Jack L. Gallant, 2008. "Identifying natural images from human brain activity," Nature, Nature, vol. 452(7185), pages 352-355, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:452:y:2008:i:7185:d:10.1038_nature06713
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06713
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    Cited by:

    1. Agustin Lage-Castellanos & Giancarlo Valente & Elia Formisano & Federico De Martino, 2019. "Methods for computing the maximum performance of computational models of fMRI responses," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Kay H Brodersen & Thomas M Schofield & Alexander P Leff & Cheng Soon Ong & Ekaterina I Lomakina & Joachim M Buhmann & Klaas E Stephan, 2011. "Generative Embedding for Model-Based Classification of fMRI Data," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Raheel Zafar & Sarat C Dass & Aamir Saeed Malik, 2017. "Electroencephalogram-based decoding cognitive states using convolutional neural network and likelihood ratio based score fusion," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-23, May.
    4. Marcel Adam Just & Vladimir L Cherkassky & Augusto Buchweitz & Timothy A Keller & Tom M Mitchell, 2014. "Identifying Autism from Neural Representations of Social Interactions: Neurocognitive Markers of Autism," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Ghislain St-Yves & Emily J. Allen & Yihan Wu & Kendrick Kay & Thomas Naselaris, 2023. "Brain-optimized deep neural network models of human visual areas learn non-hierarchical representations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Leech, Dennis & Leech, Robert & Simmonds, Anna, 2009. "Parametric inference for functional information mapping," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 899, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    7. Umut Güçlü & Marcel A J van Gerven, 2014. "Unsupervised Feature Learning Improves Prediction of Human Brain Activity in Response to Natural Images," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Samy A. Abdel-Ghaffar & Alexander G. Huth & Mark D. Lescroart & Dustin Stansbury & Jack L. Gallant & Sonia J. Bishop, 2024. "Occipital-temporal cortical tuning to semantic and affective features of natural images predicts associated behavioral responses," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Jacob M. Paul & Martijn Ackooij & Tuomas C. Cate & Ben M. Harvey, 2022. "Numerosity tuning in human association cortices and local image contrast representations in early visual cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Shinsuke Koyama & Uri Eden & Emery Brown & Robert Kass, 2010. "Bayesian decoding of neural spike trains," Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Springer;The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, vol. 62(1), pages 37-59, February.
    11. Tarana Nigam & Caspar M. Schwiedrzik, 2024. "Predictions enable top-down pattern separation in the macaque face-processing hierarchy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Kiyohito Iigaya & Sanghyun Yi & Iman A. Wahle & Sandy Tanwisuth & Logan Cross & John P. O’Doherty, 2023. "Neural mechanisms underlying the hierarchical construction of perceived aesthetic value," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Hanzhong Liu & Bin Yu, 2017. "Comments on: High-dimensional simultaneous inference with the bootstrap," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 26(4), pages 740-750, December.
    14. Yargholi, E. & Hossein-Zadeh, G.-A., 2019. "Cross recurrence quantifiers as new connectivity measures for structure learning of Bayesian networks in brain decoding," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 263-274.
    15. Jörn Diedrichsen & Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, 2017. "Representational models: A common framework for understanding encoding, pattern-component, and representational-similarity analysis," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-33, April.
    16. Guillermo A Cecchi & Lejian Huang & Javeria Ali Hashmi & Marwan Baliki & María V Centeno & Irina Rish & A Vania Apkarian, 2012. "Predictive Dynamics of Human Pain Perception," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-12, October.
    17. Ming Bo Cai & Nicolas W Schuck & Jonathan W Pillow & Yael Niv, 2019. "Representational structure or task structure? Bias in neural representational similarity analysis and a Bayesian method for reducing bias," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-30, May.
    18. Lauren L Emberson & Benjamin D Zinszer & Rajeev D S Raizada & Richard N Aslin, 2017. "Decoding the infant mind: Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) using fNIRS," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-23, April.
    19. Zvi N. Roth & Kendrick Kay & Elisha P. Merriam, 2022. "Natural scene sampling reveals reliable coarse-scale orientation tuning in human V1," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    20. Hamed Nili & Cai Wingfield & Alexander Walther & Li Su & William Marslen-Wilson & Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, 2014. "A Toolbox for Representational Similarity Analysis," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-11, April.
    21. Hamed Nili & Alexander Walther & Arjen Alink & Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, 2020. "Inferring exemplar discriminability in brain representations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-28, June.
    22. Johannes Haushofer & Margaret S Livingstone & Nancy Kanwisher, 2008. "Multivariate Patterns in Object-Selective Cortex Dissociate Perceptual and Physical Shape Similarity," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-9, July.

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