A large neuronal dataset for natural category-based free-gaze visual search in macaques

Goal-directed visual attention is a fundamental cognitive process that demonstrates the brain's remarkable ability to prioritize visual information relevant to specific tasks or objectives. Despite its importance, there is a lack of comprehensive datasets to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms. Here, we present a large naturalistic visual search dataset in which rhesus macaques searched for targets among natural stimuli based on object categories using voluntary eye movements. The stimulus set included 40 images per category across four categories: faces, houses, flowers, and hands. We recorded activity from 6871 units in area V4, 8641 units in the inferior temporal cortex (IT), 5622 units in the orbital frontal cortex (OFC), and 9916 units in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). These units exhibited diverse receptive fields and selectivity for visual categories. Together, our extensive dataset provides a rich neuronal population across multiple brain areas, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the neural processes underlying goal-directed visual attention.