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Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

Task Dependence of Visual and Category Representations in Prefrontal and Inferior Temporal Cortices

Jillian L. McKee, Maximilian Riesenhuber, Earl K. Miller and David J. Freedman
Journal of Neuroscience 26 November 2014, 34 (48) 16065-16075; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1660-14.2014
Jillian L. McKee
1Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637,
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Maximilian Riesenhuber
2Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, and
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Earl K. Miller
3The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
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David J. Freedman
1Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637,
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Abstract

Visual categorization is an essential perceptual and cognitive process for assigning behavioral significance to incoming stimuli. Categorization depends on sensory processing of stimulus features as well as flexible cognitive processing for classifying stimuli according to the current behavioral context. Neurophysiological studies suggest that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the inferior temporal cortex (ITC) are involved in visual shape categorization. However, their precise roles in the perceptual and cognitive aspects of the categorization process are unclear, as the two areas have not been directly compared during changing task contexts. To address this, we examined the impact of task relevance on categorization-related activity in PFC and ITC by recording from both areas as monkeys alternated between a shape categorization and passive viewing tasks. As monkeys viewed the same stimuli in both tasks, the impact of task relevance on encoding in each area could be compared. While both areas showed task-dependent modulations of neuronal activity, the patterns of results differed markedly. PFC, but not ITC, neurons showed a modest increase in firing rates when stimuli were task relevant. PFC also showed significantly stronger category selectivity during the task compared with passive viewing, while task-dependent modulations of category selectivity in ITC were weak and occurred with a long latency. Finally, both areas showed an enhancement of stimulus selectivity during the task compared with passive viewing. Together, this suggests that the ITC and PFC show differing degrees of task-dependent flexibility and are preferentially involved in the perceptual and cognitive aspects of the categorization process, respectively.

  • categorization
  • inferior temporal cortex
  • neurophysiology
  • object recognition
  • prefrontal cortex
  • vision
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The Journal of Neuroscience: 34 (48)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 34, Issue 48
26 Nov 2014
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Task Dependence of Visual and Category Representations in Prefrontal and Inferior Temporal Cortices
Jillian L. McKee, Maximilian Riesenhuber, Earl K. Miller, David J. Freedman
Journal of Neuroscience 26 November 2014, 34 (48) 16065-16075; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1660-14.2014

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Task Dependence of Visual and Category Representations in Prefrontal and Inferior Temporal Cortices
Jillian L. McKee, Maximilian Riesenhuber, Earl K. Miller, David J. Freedman
Journal of Neuroscience 26 November 2014, 34 (48) 16065-16075; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1660-14.2014
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Keywords

  • categorization
  • inferior temporal cortex
  • neurophysiology
  • object recognition
  • prefrontal cortex
  • vision

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