Value-driven attentional priority signals in human basal ganglia and visual cortex

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Attentional priority is guided by goal-directed and stimulus-driven factors.
• Reward-related stimuli capture attention irrespective of physical salience or goals.
• Neural mechanisms of value-driven attentional control remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying value-driven attentional control.
• To identify brain regions that signal attentional priority based on reward history.

Main Methods:

• Human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
• Participants viewed task-irrelevant objects previously associated with rewards.
• Brain activity was analyzed to identify responses to reward-associated stimuli.

Main Results:

• The tail of the caudate nucleus and extrastriate visual cortex showed preferential responses to previously reward-associated objects.
• These brain regions provided an attentional priority signal sensitive to reward history.
• The caudate tail, not previously linked to attention control, appears crucial for value-based attention.

Conclusions:

• The findings reveal the neural basis of value-based attentional priority.
• The caudate tail plays a significant role in mediating value-driven attentional control.
• This research expands our understanding of how reward influences attention.