Comparative multivariate decoding adjudicates theories of semantic representation in the anterior temporal lobes and the rest of the cortex

Abstract

The anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) are known to support semantic cognition, but theories about their precise representational coding vary. We collected 7T-fMRI data with a novel acquisition sequence designed to improve signal quality in the ATLs, then employed a pioneering analytical approach (comparative multivariate decoding) to adjudicate between theories. Specifically, we applied multiple decoding methods, each making different assumptions about the content, nature or location of representations within the ATLs, then used the pattern of results across methods to adjudicate competing hypotheses. The results suggest that the ATLs represent domain-general semantic information via a multidimensional inchoate vector-space code that is anatomically clustered within and across individuals, and that posterior temporal and occipitotemporal regions utilise a similar domain-general, inchoate vector-space code. More generally, the comparative multivariate analytical framework utilised here has the potential to reveal how the brain represents, not just semantic knowledge, but any kind of information.