[2403.14046] Clarifying the conceptual dimensions of representation in neuroscience Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Quantitative Biology > Neurons and Cognition arXiv:2403.14046 (q-bio) [Submitted on 21 Mar 2024 ( v1 ), last revised 23 Apr 2026 (this version, v5)] Title: Clarifying the conceptual dimensions of representation in neuroscience Authors: Stephan Pohl , Edgar Y. Walker , David L. Barack , Jennifer Lee , Rachel N. Denison , Ned Block , Florent Meyniel , Wei Ji Ma View a PDF of the paper titled Clarifying the conceptual dimensions of representation in neuroscience, by Stephan Pohl and 7 other authors View PDF Abstract: Despite the centrality of the notion of representation in neuroscience, the field lacks a unified framework for the concepts used to characterize representation, leading to disparate use of both terminology and measures associated with it. To offer clarification, we propose a core set of conceptual dimensions that characterize representations in neuroscience. These dimensions describe relations between a neural response, features that may be represented, and downstream effects of the neural response. A neural response may be shown to be sensitive or specific to a feature, invariant to other features, or functional (it is used downstream in the brain). We use information-theoretic measures to illustrate these conceptual dimensions and explain how they relate to data analysis methods such as correlational analyses, decoding and encoding models, representational similarity analysis, and tests of statistical dependence or adaptation. We consider several canonical examples, including models of the representation of orientation, numerosity, and spatial location, which illustrate how the evidence put forth in support or criticism of these models is systematized by our framework. By offering a unified conceptual framework to characterize representation in neuroscience, we hope to aid the comparison and integration of results across studies and research groups and to help determine when evidence for a neural representation is strong. Comments: 48 pages, 4 figures Subjects: Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC) Cite as: arXiv:2403.14046 [q-bio.NC] (or arXiv:2403.14046v5 [q-bio.NC] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2403.14046 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Nature Reviews Neuroscience 27, 357-372 (2026) Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-026-01030-8 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Stephan Pohl [ view email ] [v1] Thu, 21 Mar 2024 00:07:02 UTC (2,016 KB) [v2] Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:25:53 UTC (1,984 KB) [v3] Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:40:15 UTC (1,684 KB) [v4] Mon, 9 Feb 2026 21:55:21 UTC (1,639 KB) [v5] Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:29:10 UTC (1,641 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Clarifying the conceptual dimensions of representation in neuroscience, by Stephan Pohl and 7 other authors View PDF view license Current browse context: q-bio.NC < prev | next > new | recent | 2024-03 Change to browse by: q-bio References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... 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