Orthogonal neural representations support perceptual judgments of natural stimuli.

ABSTRACT: In natural visually guided behavior, observers must separate relevant information from a barrage of irrelevant information. Many studies have investigated the neural underpinnings of this ability using artificial stimuli presented on blank backgrounds. Natural images, however, contain task-irrelevant background elements that might interfere with the perception of object features. Recent studies suggest that visual feature estimation can be modeled through the linear decoding of task-relevant information from visual cortex. So, if the representations of task-relevant and irrelevant features are not orthogonal in the neural population, then variation in the task-irrelevant features would impair task performance. We tested this hypothesis using human psychophysics and monkey neurophysiology c

SUBMITTER: Srinath R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11821992 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature