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Reason for optimism: How a shifting focus on neural population codes is moving cognitive neuroscience beyond phrenology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2016

Carolyn Parkinson  and
Thalia Wheatley
Carolyn Parkinson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095. cparkinson@ucla.eduhttp://csnlab.org
Thalia Wheatley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755. thalia.p.wheatley@dartmouth.eduhttp://www.wheatlab.com
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Abstract

Multivariate pattern analysis can address many of the challenges for cognitive neuroscience highlighted in After Phrenology (Anderson 2014) by illuminating the information content of brain regions and by providing insight into whether functional overlap reflects the recruitment of common or distinct computational mechanisms. Further, failing to consider submaximal but reliable population responses can lead to an overly modular account of brain function.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e126
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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