The spatiotemporal structure of population coding in monkey parietal cortex

Abstract

Sophisticated pattern-analytic approaches to neurophysiology present an exciting new window into the temporal dynamics of population coding. Similar pattern-analytic approaches have also become widely used in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies; however, the coarse temporal resolution of fMRI can only provide a time-averaged window into the population response. This static picture belies the evident complexity of neural dynamics revealed by multielectrode recordings, as in Crowe et al. (2010). No doubt, future studies using real-time population measures will be able to address many of the questions that so far remain unanswered. In particular, how does oscillatory behavior shape the temporal profile of dynamic population coding? Multisite recording could also explore how dynamic patterns of activity are read out by other brain areas to determine whether time-varying patterns represent stable content or multiple functionally distinct neural codes. Copyright © 2011 the authors.