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Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis
Published on: November 9, 2011
Neural Correlates of Multisensory Detection Behavior: Comparison of Primary and Higher-Order Visual Cortex
Guido T Meijer1, Pietro Marchesi1, Jorge F Mejias1
1Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Abstract:
We act upon stimuli in our surrounding environment by gathering the multisensory information they convey and by integrating this information to decide on a behavioral action. We hypothesized that the anterolateral secondary visual cortex (area AL) of the mouse brain may serve as a hub for sensorimotor transformation of audiovisual information. We imaged neuronal activity in primary visual cortex (V1) and AL of the mouse during a detection task using visual, auditory, and audiovisual stimuli. We found that AL neurons were more sensitive to weak uni- and multisensory stimuli compared to V1. Depending on contrast, different subsets of AL and V1 neurons showed cross-modal modulation of visual responses. During audiovisual stimulation, AL neurons showed stronger differentiation of behaviorally reported versus unreported stimuli compared to V1, whereas V1 showed this distinction during unisensory visual stimulation. Thus, neural population activity in area AL correlates more closely with multisensory detection behavior than V1.
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