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Related Concept Videos

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

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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....
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Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

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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,...
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Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

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Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this...
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Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

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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...
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Visual System01:26

Visual System

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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...
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Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

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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...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 16, 2026

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation
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Activity in human visual and parietal cortex reveals object-based attention in working memory.

Benjamin Peters1, Jochen Kaiser1, Benjamin Rahm2

  • 1Institute of Medical Psychology, Goethe University, D-60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|February 27, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Attention to working memory (WM) contents mirrors visual perception. Object-based attention in WM enhances brain activation for the entire object, similar to sensory stimuli.

Keywords:
multivoxel pattern analysisobject-based attentionparietal cortexperceptionvisual cortexworking memory

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Visual Attention Research

Background:

  • Visual attention selects relevant information from sensory input or working memory (WM).
  • Object-based attention effects, where attention spreads across an object, are well-documented in perception.
  • It remains unclear if these object-based attention principles apply to internal representations in WM.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether object-based attention effects observed in visual perception are also present for attentional selection of object representations in WM.
  • To determine if attention to WM contents follows the same principles as attention to sensory stimuli.

Main Methods:

  • Human behavioral experiments measuring reaction times.
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) combined with multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA).
  • Analysis of visuotopic activity in visual (V1-V4) and parietal cortex.

Main Results:

  • Behavioral: Shorter reaction times when shifting attention within the same attended object in WM compared to a different object.
  • Neuroimaging: Directing attention to one WM object position enhanced brain activation for other positions on the same object.
  • Evidence suggests attentional selection in WM activates the entire object representation.

Conclusions:

  • Object-based attention effects are demonstrably present in working memory.
  • Attentional selection mechanisms in WM operate under the same principles as in visual perception.
  • This indicates a unified system for attentional selection across sensory and memory representations.