Anterior inferotemporal cortex represents decision formation and termination without ramps

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Decision Science

Background:

• The inferotemporal cortex (IT) is traditionally viewed as a visual processing area.
• Its role in higher cognitive functions like decision-making remains less understood.
• Understanding IT's contribution is crucial for deciphering visually guided behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of anterior IT (area TEa) in decision formation.
• To determine if TEa neurons encode elements of decision-making beyond simple perception.
• To challenge the traditional view of IT as a passive perceptual buffer.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a face categorization task with stochastic visual features.
• Employed neural recordings in anterior IT (area TEa) during the task.
• Disentangled momentary evidence, accumulated evidence, and choice commitment in neural activity.

Main Results:

• TEa neurons demonstrated integration of task-relevant features over time.
• Neuronal responses were suppressed after commitment to a choice.
• TEa neurons dynamically filtered relevant from irrelevant visual inputs.
• TEa encoded the decision variable as a running average, improving signal-to-noise ratio without ramping.

Conclusions:

• Anterior IT (area TEa) neurons are involved in core elements of decision formation.
• TEa exhibits hallmarks of bounded evidence accumulation, previously attributed to frontoparietal regions.
• TEa acts as a decision-aware hub, transforming visual input for flexible, goal-directed behavior.