Modality-specific reactive and predictive responses in the human superior colliculus.

The human superior colliculus shows modality-specific predictive responses to visual and somatosensory stimuli, with distinct depth-dependent activity patterns observed in 80 layers.

• Why it matters: Understanding how the brain anticipates sensory events is crucial for insights into sensorimotor processing and predictive coding theories, yet direct evidence in humans has been limited.
• What they did: Using 7-Tesla fMRI and a multi-stage experimental design, the study mapped sensory responses across superior colliculus layers and identified predictive activity during pre-stimulation periods in 80 layers.
• The result: The findings demonstrate that the superior colliculus in humans is sensitive to both visual and somatosensory inputs and carries modality-specific predictive signals for upcoming sensory events.