Thomas and I talk about what happens in the brain’s visual system when you see something versus imagine it. He uses generative encoding and decoding models and brain signals like fMRI and EEG to test the nature of mental imagery. We also discuss the huge fMRI dataset of natural images he’s collected to infer models of the entire visual system, how we’ve still not tapped the potential of fMRI, and more.



Thomas's lab website.  Papers we discuss or mention: Resolving Ambiguities of MVPA Using Explicit Models of Representation. Human brain activity during mental imagery exhibits signatures of inference in a hierarchical generative model.