A common neuronal code for perceptual processes in visual cortex? Comparing choice and attentional correlates in V5/MT.

In the past two decades, sensory neuroscience has moved from describing response properties to external stimuli in cerebral cortex to establishing connections between neuronal activity and sensory perception. The seminal studies by Newsome, Movshon and colleagues in the awake behaving macaque firmly link single cells in extrastriate area V5/MT and perception of motion. A decade later, extrastriate visual cortex appears awash with neuronal correlates for many different perceptual tasks. Examples are attentional signals, choice signals for ambiguous images, correlates for binocular rivalry, stereo and shape perception, and so on. These diverse paradigms are aimed at elucidating the neuronal code for perceptual processes, but it has been little studied how they directly compare or even interact. In this paper, I explore to what degree the measured neuronal signals in V5/MT for choice and attentional paradigms might reflect a common neuronal mechanism for visual perception.