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Updated: Jul 26, 2025
13:51
Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis
Published on: November 9, 2011
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Recurrent pattern completion drives the neocortical representation of sensory inference
Hyeyoung Shin1,2, Mora B Ogando1, Lamiae Abdeladim1
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|June 19, 2023
Summary
The brain uses prior expectations to interpret incomplete sensory data, a process crucial for perception. Researchers identified specific neurons in the mouse visual cortex that represent illusory contours, demonstrating their role in sensory inference.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- The brain infers perceptual objects from incomplete or ambiguous sensory information using prior expectations.
- The precise neural mechanisms underlying sensory inference remain largely unknown.
- Illusory contours (ICs) serve as valuable tools for studying sensory inference due to their context-dependent nature.
Conclusions:
- Recurrent circuitry in the primary sensory cortex plays a significant role in generating holistic percepts during sensory ambiguity.
- Selective reinforcement of top-down predictions by recurrent circuits in lower sensory cortices is a key step in sensory inference.
- This research provides a computational framework for understanding how the brain resolves sensory ambiguity through expectation-driven processing.
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