Topic: encoding quality

Sensory systems transform inputs from the environment into internal representations that capture aspects of the information useful in downstream computation and behavior. These representations are not rigid, static reflections of the external world but are dynamically modulated by fluctuating cortical and behavioral states. Locomotion, for example, is associated with facilitative changes in stimulus representation in the mouse visual cortex (Vinck et al 2015). How does sensory processing in the visual system support downstream behavior? "Straightening" hypotheses posit that an important role o