The computational principle of building overcomplete representations in the auditory cortex can be extended to other sensory modalities and cognitive domains beyond auditory perception. This principle suggests that early sensory regions encode sensory inputs in a high-dimensional space, allowing for a rich and detailed representation of the external world.
In vision, for example, early visual areas may build overcomplete representations of visual stimuli, enabling downstream regions to extract task-relevant features for visual perception and decision-making. Similarly, in somatosensation, the somatosensory cortex may form overcomplete representations of tactile inputs, facilitating the extraction of relevant information for tactile discrimination and motor control.
Beyond sensory modalities, the concept of overcomplete representations can also apply to cognitive domains such as memory and attention. Early cognitive processing regions may encode a wealth of information to support flexible and adaptive cognitive functions, with downstream regions selectively extracting relevant information for memory formation, attentional focus, and decision-making processes.
By applying the principle of overcomplete representations across sensory modalities and cognitive domains, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of how the brain processes and represents information to support perception, cognition, and behavior.