Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Vision01:24

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
Color Vision01:24

Color Vision

Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.
Anatomy of the Eyeball01:20

Anatomy of the Eyeball

The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...
Visual System01:26

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
The Retina01:32

The Retina

The retina is a layer of nervous tissue at the back of the eye that transduces light into neural signals. This process, called phototransduction, is carried out by rod and cone photoreceptor cells in the back of the retina.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Distinct Response Selectivity Changes in the Primary Visual and Parietal Cortex during Visual Discrimination Learning.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same author

Population Coupling of V1 and V4 Neurons and Its Relation to Local Cortical State Fluctuations and Attention in Macaque Monkey.

eNeuro·2026
Same author

Friend, Not Foe: Lowered Tissue Reactivity to Long-Term Polyimide Implants.

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)·2026
Same author

How the visual brain can learn to parse images using a multiscale, incremental grouping process.

PLoS computational biology·2026
Same author

Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Contributions of superior colliculus and primary visual cortex to visual spatial detection in freely moving mice.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same journal

Vestibular function drives gaze stability in locomoting macaques.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Region- and layer-specific glutamatergic synapse development in the nascent cortical hierarchy.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Endogenous peptide derived from c-Cbl-associated protein counteracts its inhibitory effect on enteric neural crest cell colonization in Hirschsprung disease.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Drowsiness alters the neural dynamics but not the core computations of multisensory integration.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

A Matter of Parameters: Tailored Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Enhances Cortico-Thalamo-Cortical Circuit Resonance.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Proactive visual and motor prioritization differentially scale with cue reliability.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2026

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
07:12

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Separable codes for attention and luminance contrast in the primary visual cortex.

Arezoo Pooresmaeili1, Jasper Poort, Alexander Thiele

  • 1The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|September 24, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Visual attention and stimulus contrast have largely additive effects on neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex. These visual features are represented by largely separable codes, allowing for independent decoding.

More Related Videos

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
05:36

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Published on: November 16, 2017

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
09:37

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 8, 2026

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
07:12

A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention
05:36

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Published on: November 16, 2017

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
09:37

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Perception
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • The visual system processes stimulus features and behavioral relevance.
  • Neuronal activity in the visual cortex is modulated by both stimulus contrast and attention.
  • The interaction between attention and contrast in visual cortex remains debated, with models suggesting amplification, additive effects, or conjoint coding.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how visual attention and stimulus contrast jointly determine neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex.
  • To determine if attention and contrast are coded conjointly or separately in neuronal populations.
  • To decode attended stimuli and stimulus contrast from neural responses.

Main Methods:

  • Multielectrode recordings from the primary visual cortex (V1) of macaque monkeys.
  • Support vector machines were used to decode neural activity.
  • Analysis of neuronal responses to varying stimulus contrast and attention levels.

Main Results:

  • Many V1 neurons are influenced by attention, with additive effects from attention and contrast on average.
  • Stimulus contrast was decodable from responses of neurons not strongly modulated by attention.
  • The attended stimulus was decodable as the difference in activity between attention-modulated and non-modulated cells.

Conclusions:

  • Visual attention and stimulus contrast are represented by largely separable codes in the primary visual cortex.
  • The findings suggest distinct neural mechanisms for processing stimulus features and behavioral relevance.
  • Decoding approaches can differentiate the contributions of attention and contrast to neural responses.