Convergent and invariant object representations for sight, sound, and touch.

We continuously perceive objects in the world through multiple sensory channels. In this study, we investigated the convergence of information from different sensory streams within the cerebral cortex. We presented volunteers with three common objects via three different modalities-sight, sound, and touch-and used multivariate pattern analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data to map the cortical regions containing information about the identity of the objects.

The role of dendritic signaling in the anesthetic suppression of consciousness.

Despite considerable progress in the identification of the molecular targets of general anesthetics, it remains unclear how these drugs affect the brain at the systems level to suppress consciousness. According to recent proposals, anesthetics may achieve this feat by interfering with corticocortical top-down processes, that is, by interrupting information flow from association to early sensory cortices. Such a view entails two immediate questions.

Sight and sound converge to form modality-invariant representations in temporoparietal cortex.

People can identify objects in the environment with remarkable accuracy, regardless of the sensory modality they use to perceive them. This suggests that information from different sensory channels converges somewhere in the brain to form modality-invariant representations, i.e.

Multivariate pattern analysis reveals common neural patterns across individuals during touch observation.

In a recent study we found that multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data could predict which of several touch-implying video clips a subject saw, only using voxels from primary somatosensory cortex. Here, we re-analyzed the same dataset using cross-individual MVPA to locate patterns of information that were common across participants' brains. In this procedure a classifier learned to distinguish the neural patterns evoked by each stimulus based on the data from a sub-group of the subjects and was then tested on data from an individual that was not part of that sub-group.

Cross-modal multivariate pattern analysis.

Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) is an increasingly popular method of analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data(1-4). Typically, the method is used to identify a subject's perceptual experience from neural activity in certain regions of the brain. For instance, it has been employed to predict the orientation of visual gratings a subject perceives from activity in early visual cortices(5) or, analogously, the content of speech from activity in early auditory cortices(6).

Primary sensory cortices, top-down projections and conscious experience.

Beginning with a prominent article by Crick and Koch in 1995 (Nature 375, 121-123), cognitive neuroscience has witnessed an intensive debate about whether or not neural activity in primary visual cortex correlates with conscious visual experience. While some studies--especially those employing functional magnetic resonance imaging--imply that this is the case, others--particularly those recording from single neurons--suggest that it is not. In the light of this ongoing controversy, it is surprising that the analogous question in other sensory modalities has received far less attention.

Seeing touch is correlated with content-specific activity in primary somatosensory cortex.

There is increasing evidence to suggest that primary sensory cortices can become active in the absence of external stimulation in their respective modalities. This occurs, for example, when stimuli processed via one sensory modality imply features characteristic of a different modality; for instance, visual stimuli that imply touch have been observed to activate the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). In the present study, we addressed the question of whether such cross-modal activations are content specific.

Predicting visual stimuli on the basis of activity in auditory cortices.

Using multivariate pattern analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data, we found that the subjective experience of sound, in the absence of auditory stimulation, was associated with content-specific activity in early auditory cortices in humans. As subjects viewed sound-implying, but silent, visual stimuli, activity in auditory cortex differentiated among sounds related to various animals, musical instruments and objects. These results support the idea that early sensory cortex activity reflects perceptual experience, rather than sensory stimulation alone.

Convergence and divergence in a neural architecture for recognition and memory.

How does the brain represent external reality so that it can be perceived in the form of mental images? How are the representations stored in memory so that an approximation of their original content can be re-experienced during recall? A framework introduced in the late 1980s proposed that mental images arise from neural activity in early sensory cortices both during perception and recall. Neurons in the association cortices, by contrast, would not code explicit mental content; rather, they would hold the records needed to reconstruct an approximation of the original perceptual maps in early cortices. Several neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies now lend growing support to this proposal.

Diminishing reciprocal fairness by disrupting the right prefrontal cortex.

Humans restrain self-interest with moral and social values. They are the only species known to exhibit reciprocal fairness, which implies the punishment of other individuals' unfair behaviors, even if it hurts the punisher's economic self-interest. Reciprocal fairness has been demonstrated in the Ultimatum Game, where players often reject their bargaining partner's unfair offers.