Seeing at Will: Shared Neural Representations of Motion Perception and Intention

Volitional intention can bias perception in cases where two or more interpretations of a stimulus are available to us. The neural mechanisms whereby such an intention influences perception are poorly understood. Here we investigated whether intending to see horizontal versus vertical motion in a subsequently presented instantaneous position shift of a quartet apparent motion stimulus establishes decodable sensory representations prior to both the position shift and the perception of motion. Twelve participants underwent fMRI scanning under three conditions: (1) while passively viewing either continuously or (2) discretely moving quartet stimuli, or (3) while actively intending to see a subsequent single-shot apparent motion as either a vertical or horizontal motion. Multivariate decoding analyses revealed that activity patterns during the intention period of (3) generalized to patterns evoked by both (1) physical and (2) ambiguous motion perception. Cross-decoding was strongest within dorsal/lateral visual regions, including hMT+, V3AB, and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), but was largely absent from ventral visual cortex. Widespread overlap was also observed between intention-related and perceptual motion representations throughout the dorsal/lateral visual cortex. Our findings suggest that volitional intention establishes prospective sensory representations before perceptual experience emerges and that these representations closely resemble those associated with illusory motion perception. The predominance of intention-related representations within dorsal/lateral visual regions is consistent with top-down influences from attentional control systems. More broadly, the results demonstrate that internally generated cognitive states can shape sensory representations, constraining subsequent perceptual experience.