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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Role of the lateral prefrontal cortex in visual object-based selective attention
Scott Sinnett1, Janice J Snyder, Alan Kingstone
1Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2430 Campus Road, Gartley Hall 110, Honolulu, HI 96822-2294, USA. ssinnett@hawaii.edu
Experimental Brain Research
|January 14, 2009
Summary
Attention to object representations relies on the prefrontal cortex. Patients with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) damage showed deficits in object-based attention, indicating anterior cortical roles in object-centered processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurobiology
Background:
- Selective attention is crucial for processing complex visual scenes.
- Object-based attention allows selection of stimuli based on object identity, independent of location.
- The roles of prefrontal and parietal cortices in attention are debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the prefrontal cortex in object-based attention.
- To differentiate the contributions of anterior (prefrontal) and posterior (parietal) cortical mechanisms in attention.
Main Methods:
- Compared object-based selective attention in patients with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) lesions, parietal cortex lesions, and healthy controls.
- Utilized a task requiring top-down attentional modulation of object representations, minimizing spatial location influences.
Main Results:
- All groups successfully invoked top-down object-based selection.
- DLPFC patients exhibited a selective attention deficit for stimuli in the visual field contralateral to the lesion.
- Parietal patients did not show this specific deficit, suggesting distinct roles.
Conclusions:
- The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is vital for attending to object-centered representations.
- Anterior cortical mechanisms, particularly involving the DLPFC, are crucial for object-based attention.
- Posterior cortical mechanisms are necessary for attending to objects based on their spatial location.
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