# Deep Neural Networks Reveal a Gradient in the Complexity of Neural Representations across the Brain's Ventral Visual Pathway

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1411.6422 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1411.6422/

## Key facts

- Cited by 94 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 24 Nov 2014.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 94)

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## Abstract (arXiv)

Converging evidence suggests that the mammalian ventral visual pathway encodes increasingly complex stimulus features in downstream areas. Using deep convolutional neural networks, we can now quantitatively demonstrate that there is indeed an explicit gradient for feature complexity in the ventral pathway of the human brain. Our approach also allows stimulus features of increasing complexity to be mapped across the human brain, providing an automated approach to probing how representations are mapped across the cortical sheet. Finally, it is shown that deep convolutional neural networks allow decoding of representations in the human brain at a previously unattainable degree of accuracy, providing a more sensitive window into the human brain.