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Temporal multiplexing of perception and memory codes in IT cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Liang She

    (Caltech)

  • Marcus K. Benna

    (Columbia University
    San Diego)

  • Yuelin Shi

    (Caltech)

  • Stefano Fusi

    (Columbia University)

  • Doris Y. Tsao

    (Caltech
    University of California
    University of California)

Abstract

A central assumption of neuroscience is that long-term memories are represented by the same brain areas that encode sensory stimuli1. Neurons in inferotemporal (IT) cortex represent the sensory percept of visual objects using a distributed axis code2–4. Whether and how the same IT neural population represents the long-term memory of visual objects remains unclear. Here we examined how familiar faces are encoded in the IT anterior medial face patch (AM), perirhinal face patch (PR) and temporal pole face patch (TP). In AM and PR we observed that the encoding axis for familiar faces is rotated relative to that for unfamiliar faces at long latency; in TP this memory-related rotation was much weaker. Contrary to previous claims, the relative response magnitude to familiar versus unfamiliar faces was not a stable indicator of familiarity in any patch5–11. The mechanism underlying the memory-related axis change is likely intrinsic to IT cortex, because inactivation of PR did not affect axis change dynamics in AM. Overall, our results suggest that memories of familiar faces are represented in AM and perirhinal cortex by a distinct long-latency code, explaining how the same cell population can encode both the percept and memory of faces.

Suggested Citation

  • Liang She & Marcus K. Benna & Yuelin Shi & Stefano Fusi & Doris Y. Tsao, 2024. "Temporal multiplexing of perception and memory codes in IT cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 629(8013), pages 861-868, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:629:y:2024:i:8013:d:10.1038_s41586-024-07349-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07349-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Valeria Fascianelli & Aldo Battista & Fabio Stefanini & Satoshi Tsujimoto & Aldo Genovesio & Stefano Fusi, 2024. "Neural representational geometries reflect behavioral differences in monkeys and recurrent neural networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, December.

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