Expectation in perceptual decision making: neural and computational mechanisms

Summerfield, Christopher; Lange, Floris P. de

doi:10.1038/nrn3838

Cited by 648 publications

(621 citation statements)

References 137 publications

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“…One intriguing proposal is that cortical oscillations instantiate perceptual predictions by coordinating prestimulus neural activity to process the predicted stimulus optimally (1,2). A candidate neural mechanism for such coordination is low-frequency oscillations in the alpha band (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) Hz) of human electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, which are suggested to route information phasically through task-relevant networks (3,4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down control of the phase of alpha-band oscillations as a mechanism for temporal prediction

Samaha

Bauer

Cimaroli

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

217

176

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The physiological state of the brain before an incoming stimulus has substantial consequences for subsequent behavior and neural processing. For example, the phase of ongoing posterior alpha-band oscillations (8–14 Hz) immediately before visual stimulation has been shown to predict perceptual outcomes and downstream neural activity. Although this phenomenon suggests that these oscillations may phasically route information through functional networks, many accounts treat these periodic effects as a consequence of ongoing activity that is independent of behavioral strategy. Here, we investigated whether alpha-band phase can be guided by top-down control in a temporal cueing task. When participants were provided with cues predictive of the moment of visual target onset, discrimination accuracy improved and targets were more frequently reported as consciously seen, relative to unpredictive cues. This effect was accompanied by a significant shift in the phase of alpha-band oscillations, before target onset, toward each participant’s optimal phase for stimulus discrimination. These findings provide direct evidence that forming predictions about when a stimulus will appear can bias the phase of ongoing alpha-band oscillations toward an optimal phase for visual processing, and may thus serve as a mechanism for the top-down control of visual processing guided by temporal predictions.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down control of the phase of alpha-band oscillations as a mechanism for temporal prediction

Samaha

Bauer

Cimaroli

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

217

176

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Indeed, the current paradigm can be considered in the context of classical conditioning, where a predictive stimulus (the auditory event) conditions the occipital cortex through predicting a visual event. The experience that infants will use to develop their perceptual, cognitive, and motor abilities is similarly structured: our daily sensory input reflects the structured environment in which we live (4,(39)(40)(41), and therefore it is not randomized or counterbalanced like the majority of studies that have been used to probe neural function. Our sensory input is structured along many spatiotemporal dimensions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is extensive and compelling evidence for expectation-based modulation even at the earliest levels of sensory processing in both humans (5-7) and nonhuman animals (8). Because complex, naturalistic sensory input is characterized by temporal, spatial, and contextual regularities, the ability to modulate early sensory function as a result of expectations is believed to support adaptive perceptual abilities (4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-down modulation in the infant brain: Learning-induced expectations rapidly affect the sensory cortex at 6 months

Emberson

Richards

Aslin

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

156

198

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Recent theoretical work emphasizes the role of expectation in neural processing, shifting the focus from feed-forward cortical hierarchies to models that include extensive feedback (e.g., predictive coding). Empirical support for expectation-related feedback is compelling but restricted to adult humans and nonhuman animals. Given the considerable differences in neural organization, connectivity, and efficiency between infant and adult brains, it is a crucial yet open question whether expectation-related feedback is an inherent property of the cortex (i.e., operational early in development) or whether expectation-related feedback develops with extensive experience and neural maturation. To determine whether infants' expectations about future sensory input modulate their sensory cortices without the confounds of stimulus novelty or repetition suppression, we used a cross-modal (audiovisual) omission paradigm and used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record hemodynamic responses in the infant cortex. We show that the occipital cortex of 6-month-old infants exhibits the signature of expectation-based feedback. Crucially, we found that this region does not respond to auditory stimuli if they are not predictive of a visual event. Overall, these findings suggest that the young infant's brain is already capable of some rudimentary form of expectation-based feedback.O ver the past two decades, theoretical focus has shifted from predominantly feed-forward hierarchies of cortical function, where sensory cortex propagates information to higher level analyzers on the way to decision and motor control areas, to models in which feedback connections to lower-level cortical regions allow extensive top-down functional modulation based on expectation (1). An influential model for incorporating feedback is predictive coding, which compares expectations or predictions to input at each level of the processing hierarchy (2-4). There is extensive and compelling evidence for expectation-based modulation even at the earliest levels of sensory processing in both humans (5-7) and nonhuman animals (8). Because complex, naturalistic sensory input is characterized by temporal, spatial, and contextual regularities, the ability to modulate early sensory function as a result of expectations is believed to support adaptive perceptual abilities (4).Empirical evidence for expectation-based feedback, however, is restricted to adult humans and nonhuman animals. With their extensive experience, adults already have developed sophisticated internal models of the environment and have a highly interconnected brain and efficient neural processing. Comparatively, human infants are born with a demonstratively immature behavioral repertoire, have underdeveloped sensorimotor and cognitive capacities, and lack sophisticated internal models of the environment. These internal models undergo substantial postnatal development even in the early sensory cortex. For example, spontaneous activity of primary visual cortex (V1) in ferrets converges with e...

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“…While this effect is not predicted under the Cancellation model, it in fact appears consistent with some other observations within the action literature. For instance, agents are sometimes better at detecting visual motion congruent with action (Christensen et al, 2011;2014;Desantis, Roussel, & Waszak, 2014), and computational models of perception consider detection to be related to perceived intensity such that the detection threshold reflects the lower bound of perceptible intensities (Brown et al, 2013). Additionally, and likely relatedly, ambiguous inputs (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted action consequences are perceptually facilitated before cancellation.

Yon¹,

Press²

2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Models of action control suggest that predicted action outcomes are 'cancelled' from perception, allowing agents to devote resources to more behaviorally-relevant unexpected events. These models are supported by a range of findings demonstrating that expected consequences of action are perceived less intensely than unexpected events. A key assumption of these models is that the prediction is subtracted from the sensory input. This early subtraction allows preferential processing of unexpected events from the outset of movement, thereby promoting rapid initiation of corrective actions and updating of predictive models. We tested this assumption in three psychophysical experiments. Participants rated the intensity (brightness) of observed finger movements congruent or incongruent with their own movements at different timepoints after action. Across Experiments 1 and 2, evidence of cancellation -whereby congruent events appeared less bright than incongruent events -was only found 200 ms after action, whereas an opposite effect of brighter congruent percepts was observed in earlier time ranges (50 ms after action). Experiment 3 demonstrated that this interaction was not a result of response bias. These findings suggest that 'cancellation' may not be the rapid process assumed in the literature, and that perception of predicted action outcomes is initially 'facilitated'. We speculate that the representation of our environment may in fact be optimized via two opposing processes: The primary process facilitates perception of events consistent with predictions and thereby helps us to perceive what is more likely, but a later process aids the perception of any detected events generating prediction errors to assist model updating.

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Expectation in perceptual decision making: neural and computational mechanisms

Cited by 648 publications

References 137 publications

Top-down control of the phase of alpha-band oscillations as a mechanism for temporal prediction

Top-down control of the phase of alpha-band oscillations as a mechanism for temporal prediction

Top-down modulation in the infant brain: Learning-induced expectations rapidly affect the sensory cortex at 6 months

Predicted action consequences are perceptually facilitated before cancellation.

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