Sustained multidimensionality of object representations as a scaffold for diverse behaviours

Abstract

The human brain transforms a brief glance into a neural representation flexible enough to serve many behavioural goals. This flexibility may reflect multidimensional visual representations read out selectively across tasks, rather than goal-specific instantiation. Combining a large-scale EEG dataset with a behavioural battery of 12 tasks spanning 200 objects, including perceptual, categorical and social decisions, we tested how behaviours are supported by stimulus-evoked representations. Information relevant to 11 of 12 tasks was accessible in the neural signal, emerging early and overlapping in time. Orthogonal behavioural dimensions showed distinct temporal profiles, indicating a genuinely multidimensional representation. The neural code converged on a human-relatedness axis, while feature-level information remained accessible. Behavioural accessibility was thus broad but structured. Object familiarity alone was reliable in behaviour yet absent from the shared neural signal, revealing a limit on what a glance makes accessible. We propose that sustained, recurrent processing serves this broad behavioural accessibility.