Perceptual stability reflected in neuronal pattern similarities in human visual cortex

The magnitude of neuronal activation is commonly considered a critical factor for conscious perception of visual content. However, this dogma contrasts with the phenomenon of rapid adaptation, in which the magni-tude of neuronal activation drops dramatically in a rapid manner while the visual stimulus and the conscious experience it elicits remain stable. Here, we report that the profiles of multi-site activation patterns and their relational geometry-i.e., the similarity distances between activation patterns, as revealed using intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) recordings-are sustained during extended visual stimulation despite the major magnitude decrease. These results are compatible with the hypothesis that conscious perceptual con-tent is associated with the neuronal pattern profiles and their similarity distances, rather than the overall acti-vation magnitude, in human visual cortex.