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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.
Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
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...
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.
Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...

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Related Experiment Video

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Simultaneous Eye Tracking and Single-Neuron Recordings in Human Epilepsy Patients
07:43

Simultaneous Eye Tracking and Single-Neuron Recordings in Human Epilepsy Patients

Published on: June 17, 2019

Attention improves encoding of task-relevant features in the human visual cortex.

Janneke F M Jehee1, Devin K Brady, Frank Tong

  • 1Psychology Department and Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37240, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|June 3, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Spatial attention selectively enhances task-relevant features in the visual cortex, not all stimulus features. This selective enhancement, observed via fMRI, suggests a global feature-based attention mechanism.

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

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Spatial attention typically increases visual cortex activity.
  • It remains unclear if attention enhances all stimulus features or only task-relevant ones.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether spatial attention selectively enhances task-relevant features in the human visual cortex.
  • To determine if attentional enhancement is feature-specific or general.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with multivariate pattern analysis.
  • Decoding orientation-selective activity patterns in visual cortical areas (V1-V4).
  • Subjects performed orientation, contrast, or color discrimination tasks.

Main Results:

  • Spatial attention increased overall BOLD activation in visual cortex (V1-V4) for all tasks.
  • Orientation-selective responses were enhanced only when orientation was task-relevant.
  • Color-selective responses were enhanced only when color was task-relevant.
  • Task-specific enhancement spread beyond the attended location, suggesting global mechanisms.

Conclusions:

  • Attention selectively enhances specific, task-relevant features.
  • Increased BOLD signal does not always correlate with improved stimulus processing.
  • Attention involves both spatial and global feature-based mechanisms.