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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Published on: November 2, 2012

Current and future goals are represented in opposite patterns in object-selective cortex.

Anouk Mariette van Loon^1,2, Katya Olmos-Solis¹, Johannes Jacobus Fahrenfort^1,3

¹Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

|November 6, 2018

Summary

The brain separates current and future goals in working memory using opposing neural patterns. This research reveals how prospective memory representations are encoded alongside current ones.

Keywords:

category representations cognitive control human multivariate pattern decoding neuroscience prospective memory visual attention working memory

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Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging
Working Memory Research

Background:

Adaptive behavior depends on distinguishing between immediate and future objectives within working memory.
Understanding the neural mechanisms for managing multiple temporal goals is crucial for cognitive science.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the representational similarities and differences of memory traces for current versus prospective tasks.
To explore how the brain segregates information related to immediate needs from future plans in working memory.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to examine object-selective cortex activity.
Participants performed visual search tasks after being cued to remember an object for current, prospective, or irrelevant tasks.
Representational similarity analysis was used to decode memory representations.

Main Results:

Initially, representations for current, prospective, and irrelevant objects were similar.
During a search task, representations for currently relevant objects were strongly decoded.
Prospective memory representations were also decodable but showed anti-correlated voxel patterns compared to current representations.

Conclusions:

The brain utilizes opposing neural patterns within the same neuronal ensembles to differentiate current from prospective memories.
This mechanism allows for the flexible management of goals across different time horizons in working memory.