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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
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Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
Published on: July 5, 2015
The effects of visuospatial attention measured across visual cortex using source-imaged, steady-state EEG
Thomas Z Lauritzen1, Justin M Ales, Alex R Wade
1Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. tlauritzen@gmail.com
Journal of Vision
|January 4, 2011
Summary
Spatial attention modulates neural responses in the visual cortex. This study reveals distinct attentional effects across visual areas, with early visual cortex signals predicting performance in contrast detection tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Spatial attention influences neural firing rates across the visual cortex.
- The precise computations underlying attention and its link to perceptual performance remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how spatial attention affects neural responses in human visual areas V1, hMT+, hV4, and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS).
- To explore the relationship between attentionally modulated neural signals and contrast detection performance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a novel human neuroimaging technique to measure neural activity.
- Examined brain activity in response to spatial attention cues.
Main Results:
- Attention induced response gain changes in V1, hMT+, and IPS.
- hV4 exhibited contrast gain modulation under attention.
- Neural signals in V1, hMT+, and IPS correlated with contrast detection performance.
Conclusions:
- Spatial attention modulates neural processing differently across visual cortical areas.
- Early visual cortex activity, including V1, can predict behavioral performance in perceptual tasks.
