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Serial Dependence in Perceptual Decisions Is Reflected in Activity Patterns in Primary Visual Cortex

John-Saaltink, ES; Kok, P; Lau, HC; de Lange, FP; (2016) Serial Dependence in Perceptual Decisions Is Reflected in Activity Patterns in Primary Visual Cortex. Journal of Neuroscience , 36 (23) pp. 6186-6192. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4390-15.2016. Green open access

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Abstract

Sensory signals are highly structured in both space and time. These regularities allow expectations about future stimulation to be formed, thereby facilitating decisions about upcoming visual features and objects. One such regularity is that the world is generally stable over short time scales. This feature of the world is exploited by the brain, leading to a bias in perception called serial dependence: previously seen stimuli bias the perception of subsequent stimuli, making them appear more similar to previous input than they really are. What are the neural processes that may underlie this bias in perceptual choice? Does serial dependence arise only in higher-level areas involved in perceptual decision-making, or does such a bias occur at the earliest levels of sensory processing? In this study, human subjects made decisions about the orientation of grating stimuli presented in the left or right visual field while activity patterns in their visual cortex were recorded using fMRI. In line with previous behavioral reports, reported orientation on the current trial was consistently biased toward the previously reported orientation. We found that the orientation signal in V1 was similarly biased toward the orientation presented on the previous trial. Both the perceptual decision and neural effects were spatially specific, such that the perceptual decision and neural representations on the current trial were only influenced by previous stimuli at the same location. These results suggest that biases in perceptual decisions induced by previous stimuli may result from neural biases in sensory cortex induced by recent perceptual history.

Type: Article
Title: Serial Dependence in Perceptual Decisions Is Reflected in Activity Patterns in Primary Visual Cortex
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4390-15.2016
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4390-15.2016
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Neurosciences, Neurosciences & Neurology, fMRI, MVPA, perceptual bias, primary visual cortex, priming, trial history, CORTICAL AREA, EXPECTATIONS, PROBABILITIES, INTEGRATION, DYNAMICS, VISION, MOTOR
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Imaging Neuroscience
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10056216
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