Categorization learning induced changes in action representations in the macaque STS

Predictions enable top-down pattern separation in the macaque face-processing hierarchy

Distinguishing faces requires well distinguishable neural activity patterns. Contextual information may separate neural representations, leading to enhanced identity recognition. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how predictions derived from contextual information affect the separability of neural activity patterns in the macaque face-processing system, a 3-level processing hierarchy in ventral visual cortex. We find that in the presence of predictions, early stages of this hierarchy exhibit well separable and high-dimensional neural geometries resembling those at the top of the hierarchy. This is accompanied by a systematic shift of tuning properties from higher to lower areas, endowing lower areas with higher-order, invariant representations instead of their feedforward tuning properties. Thus, top-down signals dynamically transform neural representations of faces into separable and high-dimensional neural geometries. Our results provide evidence how predictive context transforms flexible representational spaces to optimally use the computational resources provided by cortical processing hierarchies for better and faster distinction of facial identities.

Intrinsic functional clustering of the macaque insular cortex

The functional organization of the primate insula has been studied using a variety of techniques focussing on regional differences in either architecture, connectivity, or function. These complementary methods offered insights into the complex organization of the insula and proposed distinct parcellation schemes at varying levels of detail and complexity. The advent of imaging techniques that allow non-invasive assessment of structural and functional connectivity, has popularized data-driven connectivity-based parcellation methods to investigate the organization of the human insula. Yet, it remains unclear if the subdivisions derived from these data-driven clustering methods reflect meaningful descriptions of the functional specialization of the insula. In this study, we employed hierarchical clustering to examine the cluster parcellations of the macaque insula. As our aim was exploratory, we examined parcellations consisting of two up to ten clusters. Three different cluster validation methods (fingerprinting, silhouette, elbow) converged on a four-cluster solution as the most optimal representation of our data. Examining functional response properties of these clusters, in addition to their brain-wide functional connectivity suggested a functional specialization related to processing gustatory, somato-motor, vestibular and social visual cues. However, a more detailed functional differentiation aligning with previous functional investigations of insula subfields became evident at higher cluster numbers beyond the proposed optimal four clusters. Overall, our findings demonstrate that resting-state-based hierarchical clustering can provide a meaningful description of the insula's functional organization at some level of detail. Nonetheless, cluster parcellations derived from this method are best combined with data obtained through other modalities, to provide a more comprehensive and detailed account of the insula's complex functional organization.

Functional characterization of macaque insula using task-based and resting-state fMRI

Neurophysiological investigations over the past decades have demonstrated the involvement of the primate insula in a wide array of sensory, cognitive, affective and regulatory functions, yet the complex functional organization of the insula remains unclear. Here we examined to what extent non-invasive task-based and resting-state fMRI provides support for functional specialization and integration of sensory and motor information in the macaque insula. Task-based fMRI experiments suggested a functional specialization related to processing of ingestive/taste/distaste information in anterior insula, grasping-related sensorimotor responses in middle insula and vestibular information in posterior insula. Visual stimuli depicting social information involving conspecific`s lip-smacking gestures yielded responses in middle and anterior portions of dorsal and ventral insula, overlapping partially with the sensorimotor and ingestive/taste/distaste fields. Functional specialization/integration of the insula was further corroborated by seed-based whole brain resting-state analyses, showing distinct functional connectivity gradients across the anterio-posterior extent of both dorsal and ventral insula. Posterior insula showed functional correlations in particular with vestibular/optic flow network regions, mid-dorsal insula with vestibular/optic flow as well as parieto-frontal regions of the sensorimotor grasping network, mid-ventral insula with social/affiliative network regions in temporal, cingulate and prefrontal cortices and anterior insula with taste and mouth motor networks including premotor and frontal opercular regions.