Separate cortical networks for perceptual memory and perceptual adaptation C Schwiedrzik |
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Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, NY, United States
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| It is well accepted that perception strongly depends on previous experience. However, it remains unclear how the brain entertains two modes in which previous experience affects perception: an attractive effect called ‘perceptual memory’ (PM), which increases the likelihood to perceive the same again, and a repulsive effect called ‘perceptual adaptation’ (PA), which increases the likelihood to perceive something else. We combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and psychophysics in humans to test how the brain entertains these two processes without mutual interference. We found that although affecting our perception concurrently, PM and PA map into distinct cortical networks: a widespread network of higher-order visual and fronto-parietal areas was involved in PM, while PA was confined to early visual areas. Our data refute theoretical models that either explain PM and PA with a single mechanism or with two separate mechanisms that, however, co-localize to the same early sensory area. In turn we propose that the areal and hierarchical segregation may enable the brain to maintain the balance between stabilization and exploring new information. A Bayesian model which implements perceptual memory as changes in the prior and adaptation as changes in the sensory evidence reproduces the behavioral data. |
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