The representation of object-concept primitives across the macaque brain.

Cross-feature decoding of learned object-concept primitives is absent in retinotopic cortex but present bilaterally in discrete foci in anterior inferior temporal cortex, temporal pole, and frontal cortex during fMRI cueing.

• Why it matters: It remains unclear where and how the brain represents object concepts that go beyond immediate sensory input, especially for abstract feature associations.
• What they did: Macaques learned paired color–shape primitives over years, then underwent fMRI with cues showing only one feature; a convolutional-network-inspired whole-brain searchlight tested whether the unshown feature could be decoded.
• The result: In anterior inferior temporal cortex and temporal pole, neural geometry for shapes matched the color-circle geometry of associated colors, while frontal cortex best decoded error trials; passive viewing also showed learned response biases in extrastriate visual cortex, consistent with feedback.

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