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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2002 Dec 29;357(1428):1843–1850. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1167

Analysing neuronal correlates of the comparison of two sequentially presented sensory stimuli.

Carlos D Brody 1, Adrián Hernández 1, Antonio Zainos 1, Luis Lemus 1, Ranulfo Romo 1
PMCID: PMC1693076  PMID: 12626017

Abstract

In a typical sequential sensory discrimination task, subjects are required to make a decision based on comparing a sensory stimulus against the memory trace left by a previous stimulus. What is the neuronal substrate for such comparisons and the resulting decisions? This question was studied by recording neuronal responses in a variety of cortical areas of awake monkeys (Macaca mulatta), trained to carry out a vibrotactile sequential discrimination task. We describe methods to analyse responses obtained during the comparison and decision phases of the task, and describe the resulting findings from recordings in secondary somatosensory cortical area (S2). A subset of neurons in S2 become highly correlated with the monkey's decision in the task.

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Selected References

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