ABSTRACT

Several recent studies have interpreted multivariate evidence for stimulus-specific patterns of activity in parietal and/or frontal cortex as evidence for a representational function in those regions that is qualitatively similar to the representational functions of the visual system. Here we argue that although evidence that a brain system takes on a different configuration for each stimulus in a stimulus set is a necessary property for that system having a role in perceptual representation, such evidence is not specific for this function. Drawing on several examples from the recent literature, we offer alternative accounts for understanding stimulus-specificity in parietal and frontal cortex that are consistent with longstanding ideas that activity in these regions is best understood as implementing control-related, rather than inherently representational, functions.

摘要

最近的一些研究已经将顶叶和/或额叶皮层中特定于刺激的活动模式的多变量证据解释为在质量上与视觉系统的表征功能相似的那些区域中的表征功能的证据。在这里，我们认为，尽管证据表明大脑系统对于刺激集中的每个刺激具有不同的配置是该系统在感知表示中起作用的必要属性，但此类证据并非专门针对此功能。借鉴最近文献中的几个例子，我们提供了替代的方法来理解顶叶和额叶皮层的刺激特异性，这与长期以来认为在这些区域的活动最好被理解为与控制相关，