How spatial context of expectations modulate our perception?

Humans are exquisitely sensitive to visual statistical regularities. Both spatial and temporal context play an important role in visual perception and behavior. We can extract statistical regularities from both forms of context to help processing the present and to construct expectations about the future. Numerous studies have found reduced neural responses to expected stimuli compared to unexpected stimuli, for both spatial and temporal regularities. However, it is largely unclear whether and how these forms of context interact. In the current study, we set out to concurrently examine the neural and behavioral consequences of spatial and temporal contextual expectations following statistical learning.

We show that spatial and temporal context both modulate sensory processing in the ventral visual stream, with pronounced reductions in neural responses to stimuli predicted by spatial and temporal context, compared to stimuli occurring in unexpected contexts. Interestingly, these modulations were evident in comparable cortical areas, suggesting that spatial and temporal context modulate sensory processing in a similar fashion.