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A shared code for perceiving and imagining objects in human ventral temporal cortex
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|November 19, 2025
Summary
Mental imagery relies on the same brain cells used for vision. Neurons in the human temporal cortex (VTC) use a feature axis code for objects, and this code is reactivated during mental imagery.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Visual perception mechanisms are well-studied in animals, but neural underpinnings of mental imagery are less understood.
- Mental imagery involves recalling past experiences and envisioning new ones, crucial for cognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms of visual imagery in the human brain.
- To determine if the same neural codes used for object perception are involved in visual imagery.
Main Methods:
- Recorded activity from single neurons in the human ventral temporal cortex (VTC).
- Identified a distributed axis code used by VTC neurons to represent objects.
- Generated synthetic stimuli based on the identified neural code.
- Measured neural responses while subjects performed visual imagery tasks.
Main Results:
- Approximately 80% of visually responsive VTC neurons use a distributed axis code for object representation.
- Around 40% of these axis-tuned VTC neurons showed reactivation of the visual code during mental imagery.
- Reconstruction of imagined objects from neural activity was possible.
Conclusions:
- Visual imagery reactivates the same neural populations and codes involved in visual perception.
- Provides single-neuron evidence for a generative model in human VTC supporting mental imagery.
- Suggests a shared neural basis for perception and imagination.
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