Mixing novel and familiar cues modifies representations of familiar visual images and affects behavior

Noam Nitzan, Corbett Bennett, J. Anthony Movshon, Shawn R. Olsen, György Buzsáki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

While visual responses to familiar and novel stimuli have been extensively studied, it is unknown how neuronal representations of familiar stimuli are affected when they are interleaved with novel images. We examined a large-scale dataset from mice performing a visual go/no-go change detection task. After training with eight images, six novel images were interleaved with two familiar ones. Unexpectedly, we found that the behavioral performance in response to familiar images was impaired when they were mixed with novel images. When familiar images were interleaved with novel ones, the dimensionality of their representation increased, indicating a perturbation of their neuronal responses. Furthermore, responses to familiar images in the primary visual cortex were less predictive of responses in higher-order areas, indicating less efficient communication. Spontaneous correlations between neurons were predictive of responses to novel images, but less so to familiar ones. Our study demonstrates the modification of representations of familiar images by novelty.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number114521
JournalCell Reports
Volume43
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 27 2024

Keywords

  • change-detection
  • CP: Neuroscience
  • novelty
  • population coding
  • visual system

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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