Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
09:49
Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
Intermodal attention modulates visual processing in dorsal and ventral streams
1Psychology Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 109 Williams Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. acate@vt.edu
Neuroimage
|August 25, 2012
Summary
Visual attention modulates brain activity in higher visual areas. Selecting visual input, even without competing visual stimuli, impacts processing in the intraparietal sulcus and occipitotemporal sulcus.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Selecting sensory information is crucial for complex tasks, but how this selection impacts visual processing remains unclear.
- Previous research has not fully elucidated the effects of intermodal selective attention on cortical activity, especially without direct visual competition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how attending to visual information, while ignoring auditory input, affects neural processing in the visual cortex.
- To determine the specific roles of different visual brain regions in intermodal selective attention.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an audio-visual intermodal selective attention paradigm.
- Employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure cortical activity.
- Presented complex visual stimuli (faces and words) under attended and unattended conditions.
Main Results:
- Stimulus-dependent activations (SDAs) were observed in higher visual areas, including the fusiform gyrus and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), even without attention.
- Attention-related modulations (ARMs) amplified responses in posterior visual regions and differentially affected dorsal and ventral pathways.
- The IPS showed strong, exclusive activation by attention, while a distinct region in the occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS) was also exclusively attention-activated.
Conclusions:
- The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS) are critical for intermodal visual attention.
- Attention significantly modulates activity in higher visual areas, influencing both stimulus-driven responses and attention-specific processing.
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