Fast readout of object identity from macaque inferior temporal cortex.
Understanding the brain computations leading to object recognition requires quantitative characterization of the information represented in inferior temporal (IT) cortex. We used a biologically plausible, classifier-based readout technique to investigate the neural coding of selectivity and invariance at the IT population level. The activity of small neuronal populations (approximately 100 randomly selected cells) over very short time intervals (as small as 12.5 milliseconds) contained unexpectedly accurate and robust information about both object "identity" and "category." This information generalized over a range of object positions and scales, even for novel objects. Coarse information about position and scale could also be read out from the same population.
Hung
Chou P
CP
McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. chouhung@mit.edu
Kreiman
Gabriel
G
Poggio
Tomaso
T
DiCarlo
James J
JJ
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception