scholarly journals Spatial and feature-selective attention have distinct effects on population-level tuning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Goddard ◽  
Thomas A. Carlson ◽  
Alexandra Woolgar
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Tuning Curve ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
The Right

AbstractAttention is a fundamental brain process by which we selectively prioritize relevant information in our environment. Cognitively, we can employ different methods for selecting visual information for further processing, but the extent to which these are implemented by similar or different neural processes remains unclear. Spatial and feature-selective attention both change the stimulus related information signaled by single-cells and neural populations, but relatively few studies have directly compared the effects of these distinct types of attention. We scanned participants (n=20) using MEG, while they covertly attended to an object on the left or the right of fixation (spatial attention manipulation) and reported the object’s shape or color (feature-selective attention manipulation). We used multivariate pattern classification to measure population stimulus-coding in occipital and frontal areas, for attended and non-attended stimulus features, at attended and non-attended locations. In occipital cortex, we show that both spatial and feature-selective attention enhanced object representations, and the effects of these two attention types interacted multiplicatively. We also found that spatial and feature-selective attention induced qualitatively different patterns of enhancement in occipital cortex for the encoding of stimulus color. Specifically, feature-based attention primarily enhanced small color differences, while spatial attention produced greater enhancement for larger differences. We demonstrate that principles of response-gain and tuning curve sharpening that have been applied to describe the effects of attention at the level of a single neuron can account for these differences. An information flow analysis suggested that these attentional effects may be driven by feedback from frontal areas.

scholarly journals Spatial and Feature-selective Attention Have Distinct, Interacting Effects on Population-level Tuning

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Erin Goddard ◽  
Thomas A. Carlson ◽  
Alexandra Woolgar
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Information Flow Analysis ◽  
Small Feature ◽  
Object Feature

Abstract Attention can be deployed in different ways: When searching for a taxi in New York City, we can decide where to attend (e.g., to the street) and what to attend to (e.g., yellow cars). Although we use the same word to describe both processes, nonhuman primate data suggest that these produce distinct effects on neural tuning. This has been challenging to assess in humans, but here we used an opportunity afforded by multivariate decoding of MEG data. We found that attending to an object at a particular location and attending to a particular object feature produced effects that interacted multiplicatively. The two types of attention induced distinct patterns of enhancement in occipital cortex, with feature-selective attention producing relatively more enhancement of small feature differences and spatial attention producing relatively larger effects for larger feature differences. An information flow analysis further showed that stimulus representations in occipital cortex were Granger-caused by coding in frontal cortices earlier in time and that the timing of this feedback matched the onset of attention effects. The data suggest that spatial and feature-selective attention rely on distinct neural mechanisms that arise from frontal-occipital information exchange, interacting multiplicatively to selectively enhance task-relevant information.

Neural Mechanisms of Spatial Attention in the Visual Thalamus

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri B. Saalmann ◽  
Sabine Kastner
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Thalamic Nucleus ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
First Order ◽  
Visual Thalamus ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Visual Cortical

Neural mechanisms of selective attention route behaviourally relevant information through brain networks for detailed processing. These attention mechanisms are classically viewed as being solely implemented in the cortex, relegating the thalamus to a passive relay of sensory information. However, this passive view of the thalamus is being revised in light of recent studies supporting an important role for the thalamus in selective attention. Evidence suggests that the first-order thalamic nucleus, the lateral geniculate nucleus, regulates the visual information transmitted from the retina to visual cortex, while the higher-order thalamic nucleus, the pulvinar, regulates information transmission between visual cortical areas, according to attentional demands. This chapter discusses how modulation of thalamic responses, switching the response mode of thalamic neurons, and changes in neural synchrony across thalamo-cortical networks contribute to selective attention.

scholarly journals Selection and suppression of visual information in the macaque prefrontal cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Di Bello ◽  
S. Ben Hadj Hassen ◽  
E. Astrand ◽  
S. Ben Hamed
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Cognitive Framework ◽  
Task Irrelevant

AbstractIn everyday life, we are continuously struggling at focusing on our current goals while at the same time avoiding distractions. Attention is the neuro-cognitive process devoted to the selection of behaviorally relevant sensory information while at the same time preventing distraction by irrelevant information. Visual selection can be implemented by both long-term (learning-based spatial prioritization) and short term (dynamic spatial attention) mechanisms. On the other hand, distraction can be prevented proactively, by strategically prioritizing task-relevant information at the expense of irrelevant information, or reactively, by actively suppressing the processing of distractors. The distinctive neuronal signature of each of these four processes is largely unknown. Likewise, how selection and suppression mechanisms interact to drive perception has never been explored neither at the behavioral nor at the neuronal level. Here, we apply machine-learning decoding methods to prefrontal cortical (PFC) activity to monitor dynamic spatial attention with an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This leads to several novel observations. We first identify independent behavioral and neuronal signatures for learning-based attention prioritization and dynamic attentional selection. Second, we identify distinct behavioral and neuronal signatures for proactive and reactive suppression mechanisms. We find that while distracting task-relevant information is suppressed proactively, task-irrelevant information is suppressed reactively. Critically, we show that distractor suppression, whether proactive or reactive, strongly depends on both learning-based attention prioritization and dynamic attentional selection. Overall, we thus provide a unified neuro-cognitive framework describing how the prefrontal cortex implements spatial selection and distractor suppression in order to flexibly optimize behavior in dynamic environments.

scholarly journals Readout From Iconic Memory and Selective Spatial Attention Involve Similar Neural Processes

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 901-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian C. Ruff ◽  
Árni Kristjánsson ◽  
Jon Driver
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Iconic Memory ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Partial Report ◽  
Visual Array ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence ◽  
Neuroimaging Data ◽  
The Right ◽  
Lateral Occipital Cortex

Iconic memory and spatial attention are often considered separately, but they may have functional similarities. Here we provide functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for some common underlying neural effects. Subjects judged three visual stimuli in one hemifield of a bilateral array comprising six stimuli. The relevant hemifield for partial report was indicated by an auditory cue, administered either before the visual array (precue, spatial attention) or shortly after the array (postcue, iconic memory). Pre- and postcues led to similar activity modulations in lateral occipital cortex contralateral to the cued side. This finding indicates that readout from iconic memory can have some neural effects similar to those of spatial attention. We also found common bilateral activation of a fronto-parietal network for postcue and precue trials. These neuroimaging data suggest that some common neural mechanisms underlie selective spatial attention and readout from iconic memory. Some differences were also found; compared with precues, postcues led to higher activity in the right middle frontal gyrus.

Age-equivalent Top–Down Modulation during Cross-modal Selective Attention

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 2827-2839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria J. S. Guerreiro ◽  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Jyoti Mishra ◽  
Pascal W. M. Van Gerven ◽  
Adam Gazzaley
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Auditory Distraction ◽  
Top Down

Selective attention involves top–down modulation of sensory cortical areas, such that responses to relevant information are enhanced whereas responses to irrelevant information are suppressed. Suppression of irrelevant information, unlike enhancement of relevant information, has been shown to be deficient in aging. Although these attentional mechanisms have been well characterized within the visual modality, little is known about these mechanisms when attention is selectively allocated across sensory modalities. The present EEG study addressed this issue by testing younger and older participants in three different tasks: Participants attended to the visual modality and ignored the auditory modality, attended to the auditory modality and ignored the visual modality, or passively perceived information presented through either modality. We found overall modulation of visual and auditory processing during cross-modal selective attention in both age groups. Top–down modulation of visual processing was observed as a trend toward enhancement of visual information in the setting of auditory distraction, but no significant suppression of visual distraction when auditory information was relevant. Top–down modulation of auditory processing, on the other hand, was observed as suppression of auditory distraction when visual stimuli were relevant, but no significant enhancement of auditory information in the setting of visual distraction. In addition, greater visual enhancement was associated with better recognition of relevant visual information, and greater auditory distractor suppression was associated with a better ability to ignore auditory distraction. There were no age differences in these effects, suggesting that when relevant and irrelevant information are presented through different sensory modalities, selective attention remains intact in older age.

scholarly journals Selective Attention Modulates Neural Substrates of Repetition Priming and “Implicit” Visual Memory: Suppressions and Enhancements Revealed by fMRI

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1245-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrik Vuilleumier ◽  
Sophie Schwartz ◽  
Stéphanie Duhoux ◽  
Raymond J. Dolan ◽  
Jon Driver
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Repetition Effects ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
The Right

Attention can enhance processing for relevant information and suppress this for ignored stimuli. However, some residual processing may still arise without attention. Here we presented overlapping outline objects at study, with subjects attending to those in one color but not the other. Attended objects were subsequently recognized on a surprise memory test, whereas there was complete amnesia for ignored items on such direct explicit testing; yet reliable behavioral priming effects were found on indirect testing. Event-related fMRI examined neural responses to previously attended or ignored objects, now shown alone in the same or mirror-reversed orientation as before, intermixed with new items. Repetition-related decreases in fMRI responses for objects previously attended and repeated in the same orientation were found in the right posterior fusiform, lateral occipital, and left inferior frontal cortex. More anterior fusiform regions also showed some repetition decreases for ignored objects, irrespective of orientation. View-specific repetition decreases were found in the striate cortex, particularly for previously attended items. In addition, previously ignored objects produced some fMRI response increases in the bilateral lingual gyri, relative to new objects. Selective attention at exposure can thus produce several distinct long-term effects on processing of stimuli repeated later, with neural response suppression stronger for previously attended objects, and some response enhancement for previously ignored objects, with these effects arising in different brain areas. Although repetition decreases may relate to positive priming phenomena, the repetition increases for ignored objects shown here for the first time might relate to processes that can produce “negative priming” in some behavioral studies. These results reveal quantitative and qualitative differences between neural substrates of long-term repetition effects for attended versus unattended objects.

scholarly journals Increases in parieto-occipital alpha-band power reflect involuntary spatial attention due to a task-distracting deviant sound

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annekathrin Weise ◽  
Thomas Hartmann ◽  
Fabrice Parmentier ◽  
Philipp Ruhnau ◽  
Nathan Weisz
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
List Type ◽  
Involuntary Attention ◽  
Voluntary Attention ◽  
Environmental Sound ◽  
Visual Areas ◽  
The Right

AbstractImagine you are focusing on the traffic on a busy city street to ride a bike safely. Suddenly, the siren of an ambulance rings out. This unpredictable sound can involuntarily capture your attention and compromise performance. Related to this, the present study addresses two questions: 1) Does a shift of spatial attention contribute to this type of distraction?; and 2) Does oscillatory alpha activity reflect involuntary spatial attention? We harnessed a crossmodal paradigm in which participants responded as fast and as accurately as possible to the location of a visual target (left or right of fixation). Each target was preceded by a task-irrelevant sound, usually the same (i.e. standard) animal sound. Rarely, it was replaced by a novel (i.e., deviant) environmental sound. Fifty percent of the deviants occurred on the same side as the target, and 50% occurred on the opposite side of the target. As expected, responses were slower to targets that followed a task-distracting deviant compared to a standard. Crucially, responses were faster when targets followed deviants on the same versus different side, suggesting a spatial shift of attention. Magnetoencephalographic data provided corroborating support for this effect: left-hemispheric visual alpha power increased in response to the left deviant, indicating a disengagement of visual areas when visual information is outside the locus of involuntary attention. Upon the occurrence of the right deviant, right-hemispheric alpha power increased in regions functionally linked to auditory processing and attentional reorienting. Overall, our findings strengthen the view that alpha power is modulated with an involuntary shift of spatial attention. They further suggest that involuntary attention has a similar impact on sensory processing as voluntary attention, thus challenging currently held claims to the contrary.Highlights- Lateralized, task-distracting deviant sounds capture spatial attention.- Responding is faster when a target follows a deviant on the same side.- Deviant sounds alter visual oscillatory alpha power in a spatially selective manner.- Those changes are driven by alpha power increases for the ipsilateral deviant.- Thus, visual areas that process deviant-unrelated information are disengaged.

scholarly journals Simultaneous representation of sensory and mnemonic information in human visual cortex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Rademaker ◽  
C. Chunharas ◽  
J. T. Serences
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Early Visual Cortex ◽  
Simultaneous Representation

Traversing sensory environments requires keeping relevant information in mind while simultaneously processing new inputs. Visual information is kept in working memory via feature selective responses in early visual cortex, but recent work had suggested that new sensory inputs wipe out this information. Here we show region-wide multiplexing abilities in classic sensory areas, with population-level response patterns in visual cortex representing the contents of working memory concurrently with new sensory inputs.

scholarly journals Mindfulness meditators show altered distributions of early and late neural activity markers of attention in a response inhibition task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
NW Bailey ◽  
G Freedman ◽  
K Raj ◽  
CM Sullivan ◽  
NC Rogasch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Eeg Recordings ◽  
The Right

AbstractAttention is a vital executive function, since other executive functions are largely dependent on it. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to enhance attention. However, the components of attention altered by meditation and the related neural activities are underexplored. In particular, the contributions of inhibitory processes and sustained attention are not well understood. Additionally, it is not clear whether improvements in attention are related to increases in the strength of typically activated brain areas, or the recruitment of additional or alternative brain areas. To address these points, 34 meditators were compared to 28 age and gender matched controls during electroencephalography (EEG) recordings of neural activity during a Go/Nogo response inhibition task. This task generates a P3 event related potential, which is related to response inhibition processes in Nogo trials, and attention processes across both trial types. Compared with controls, meditators were more accurate at responding to Go and Nogo trials. Meditators showed a more frontally distributed P3 to both Go and Nogo trials, suggesting more frontal involvement in sustained attention rather than activity specific to response inhibition. Unexpectedly, meditators also showed increased positivity over the right parietal cortex prior to visual information reaching the occipital cortex. Both results were positively related to increased accuracy across both groups. The results suggest that meditators have an increased capacity to modulate a range of neural processes in order to meet task requirements, including higher order processes, and sensory anticipation processes. This increased capacity may underlie the improved attentional function observed in mindfulness meditators.

scholarly journals Eye preferences in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Wilson ◽  
Masaki Tomonaga ◽  
Sarah Jane-Vick
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Capuchin Monkey ◽  
Capuchin Monkeys ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Positive And Negative Valence ◽  
The Right

This study explored whether capuchin monkey eye preferences differ systematically in response to stimuli of positive and negative valence. The ‘valence hypothesis’ proposes that the right hemisphere is more dominant for negative emotional processing and the left hemisphere is more dominant for positive emotional processing. Visual information from each eye is thought to be transferred faster to and primarily processed by the contra-lateral cerebral hemisphere. Therefore, it was predicted capuchin monkeys would show greater left eye use for looking at negative stimuli and greater right eye use for looking at positive stimuli. Eleven captive capuchin monkeys were presented with four images of different emotional valence (an egg and capuchin monkey raised eyebrow face were categorised as positive, and a harpy eagle face and capuchin monkey threat face were categorised as negative) and social relevance (consisting of capuchin monkey faces or not), and eye preferences for viewing the stimuli through a monocular viewing hole were recorded. While strong preferences for using either the left or right eye were found for most individuals, there was no consensus at the population-level. Furthermore, the direction of looking, number of looks and duration of looks did not differ significantly with the emotional valence of the stimuli. These results are inconsistent with the main hypotheses about the relationship between eye preferences and processing of emotional stimuli. However, the monkeys did show significantly more arousal behaviours (vocalisation, door-touching, self-scratching and hand-rubbing) when viewing the negatively valenced stimuli than the positively valenced stimuli, indicating that the stimuli were emotionally salient. These findings do not provide evidence for a relationship between eye preferences and functional hemispheric specialisations, as often proposed in humans. Additional comparative studies are required to better understand the phylogeny of lateral biases, particularly in relation to emotional valence.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document