Sub-additivity and variability are ubiquitous response motifs in the primary visual cortex (V1). Response sub-additivity enables the construction of useful interpretations of the visual environment, whereas response variability indicates the factors that limit the precision with which the brain can do this. There is increasing evidence that experimental manipulations that elicit response sub-additivity often also quench response variability. Here, we provide an overview of these phenomena and suggest that they may have common origins. We discuss empirical findings and recent model-based insights into the functional operations, computational objectives and circuit mechanisms underlying V1 activity. These different modelling approaches all predict that response sub-additivity and variability quenching often co-occur. The phenomenology of these two response motifs, as well as many of the insights obtained about them in V1, generalize to other cortical areas. Thus, the connection between response sub-additivity and variability quenching may be a canonical motif across the cortex.

次可加性和变异性是初级视觉皮层 (V1) 中普遍存在的反应基序。响应子可加性能够构建对视觉环境的有用解释，而响应变异性则表明限制大脑执行此操作的精度的因素。越来越多的证据表明，引发响应子可加性的实验操作通常也会消除响应变异性。在这里，我们对这些现象进行了概述，并表明它们可能有共同的起源。我们讨论了 V1 活动背后的功能操作、计算目标和电路机制的实证研究结果和最新基于模型的见解。这些不同的建模方法都预测响应子可加性和变异性猝灭经常同时发生。这两个反应基序的现象学，以及在 V1 中获得的许多关于它们的见解，可以推广到其他皮质区域。因此，反应子可加性和变异性猝灭之间的联系可能是整个皮层的规范主题。