# Context-dependent neural preparation for information relevance vs. probability

## TL;DR

This study explores how the brain prepares for different types of information, finding that neural activity is specific to the context of relevance or probability.

## Contribution

The study reveals distinct neural coding patterns in the ventral visual cortex for information relevance versus probability during preparation.

## Key findings

- Anticipated stimulus categories are preactivated in different brain regions depending on relevance or probability.
- The fusiform gyrus shows some overlap in neural coding across relevance and probability contexts.
- A model-based fusion of fMRI and EEG data reveals differential coding during preparation for specific conditions.

## Abstract

Preparation is a top-down phenomenon known to improve performance across different situations. In light of recent electrophysiological findings that suggest that anticipatory neural preactivations linked to preparation are context-specific and do not generalize across domains, in the current study we used fMRI to investigate the brain regions involved in these differential patterns. We applied multivariate decoding to data obtained in a paradigm where, in different blocks, cues provided information about the relevance or probability of incoming target stimuli. Results showed that the anticipated stimulus category was preactivated in both conditions, mostly in different brain regions within the ventral visual cortex and with differential overlap with actual target perception. Crucially, there was scarce cross-classification across attention and expectation contexts except on a patch of the fusiform gyrus, indicating mostly differential neural coding of anticipated contents in relevance and probability scenarios. Finally, a model-based fMRI-EEG fusion showed that these regions differentially code for specific conditions during preparation, as well as specifically preparing for category anticipation in a ramping-up manner. Overall, our results stress the specificity of anticipatory neural processing depending on its informative role while highlighting a key hub of commonality in the fusiform gyrus.