New information is rarely learned in isolation, instead most of what we experience can be incorporated into or uses previous knowledge networks in some form. However, most rodent laboratory tasks assume the animal to be naïve with no previous experience influencing the results. Previous knowledge in form of a schema can facilitate knowledge acquisition and accelerate systems consolidation: memories become more rapidly hippocampal independent and instead rely more on the prefrontal cortex. Here, we developed a new spatial navigation task where food locations are learned in a large, gangway maze -the HexMaze. Analysing performance across sessions as well as on specific trials, we can show simple memory effects as well as multiple effects of previous knowledge accelerating both online learning and performance increases over offline periods. Importantly, we are the first to show that schema build-up is dependent on how much time passes, not how often the animal is trained.

New information is rarely learned in isolation, instead most of what we experience can be incorporated into or uses previous knowledge networks in some form. Previous knowledge in form of a cognitive map can facilitate knowledge acquisition and will influence how we learn new spatial information. Here, we developed a new spatial navigation task where food locations are learned in a large, gangway maze to test how mice learn a large spatial map over a longer time period -the HexMaze. Analysing performance across sessions as well as on specific trials, we can show simple memory effects as well as multiple effects of previous knowledge of the map accelerating both online learning and performance increases over offline periods when incorporating new information. We could identify three main phases: 1) Learning the initial goal location, 2) faster learning after two weeks when learning a new goal location and then 3) the ability to express one-session learning leading to long-term memory effect after 12 weeks. Importantly, we are the first to show that build-up of a spatial map is dependent on how much time passes, not how often the animal is trained. Significance StatementWhile most tasks in human behavioral research are based on and embedded in familiar efforts and environments, rodents tend to be naïve to the behavioral tasks and can draw only little benefit from previous experience. We developed a new task that can investigates the effect of previous knowledge on new memory acquisition. Within the task we can differentiate between different previous knowledge effects. We show that different phases in this task are suitable for different approaches to memory: from simple reference memory to rapid consolidation once a map is established. Further, we show that building up a knowledge network is dependent on how much time passes and not how much training an animal receives.

41The commonly accepted "simple-to-complex" model of visual processing in the brain posits that 42 visual tasks on complex objects such as faces are based on representations in high-level visual 43areas. Yet, recent experimental data showing the visual system's ability to localize faces in natural 44 images within 100ms (Crouzet et al., 2010) challenge the prevalent hierarchical description of the 45 visual system, and instead suggest the hypothesis of face-selectivity in early visual areas. In the 46 present study, we tested this hypothesis with human participants in two eye tracking experiments, 47 an fMRI experiment and an EEG experiment. We found converging evidence for neural 48 representations selective for upright faces in V1/V2, with latencies starting around 40 ms post-49 stimulus onset. Our findings suggest a revision of the standard "simple-to-complex" model of 50 hierarchical visual processing. 51 4 Significance statement 52 Visual processing in the brain is classically described as a series of stages with increasingly 53 complex object representations: early visual areas encode simple visual features (such as oriented 54 bars), and high-level visual areas encode representations for complex objects (such as faces). In 55 the present study, we provide behavioral, fMRI, and EEG evidence for representations of complex 56 objects -namely faces -in early visual areas. Our results challenge the standard "simple-to-57

The grouping of sensory stimuli into categories is fundamental to cognition. Previous research in the visual and auditory systems supports a two‐stage processing hierarchy that underlies perceptual categorization: (a) a “bottom‐up” perceptual stage in sensory cortices where neurons show selectivity for stimulus features and (b) a “top‐down” second stage in higher level cortical areas that categorizes the stimulus‐selective input from the first stage. In order to test the hypothesis that the two‐stage model applies to the somatosensory system, 14 human participants were trained to categorize vibrotactile stimuli presented to their right forearm. Then, during an fMRI scan, participants actively categorized the stimuli. Representational similarity analysis revealed stimulus selectivity in areas including the left precentral and postcentral gyri, the supramarginal gyrus, and the posterior middle temporal gyrus. Crucially, we identified a single category‐selective region in the left ventral precentral gyrus. Furthermore, an estimation of directed functional connectivity delivered evidence for robust top‐down connectivity from the second to first stage. These results support the validity of the two‐stage model of perceptual categorization for the somatosensory system, suggesting common computational principles and a unified theory of perceptual categorization across the visual, auditory, and somatosensory systems.

Attention can be involuntarily captured by physically salient stimuli, a phenomenon known as bottom-up attention. Typically, these salient stimuli occur unpredictably in time and space. Therefore, in a series of three behavioural experiments, we investigated the extent to which such bottom-up attentional capture is a function of one's prior expectations. In the context of an exogenous cueing task, we systematically manipulated participants' spatial (Experiment 1) or temporal (Experiments 2 and 3) expectations about an uninformative cue and examined the amount of attentional capture by the cue. We anticipated larger attentional capture for unexpected compared to expected cues. However, while we observed attentional capture, we did not find any evidence for a modulation of attentional capture by prior expectation. This suggests that bottom-up attentional capture does not appear modulated by the degree to which the cue is expected or surprising.