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Related Concept Videos

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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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.
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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:
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Vision01:24

Vision

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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.
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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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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
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Attention Increases Spike Count Correlations between Visual Cortical Areas.

Douglas A Ruff1, Marlene R Cohen2

  • 1Department of Neuroscience and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 ruffd@pitt.edu.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|July 15, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Visual attention enhances perception by improving how information is encoded within brain areas and communicated between them. This study shows attention increases communication between visual cortex areas on behaviorally relevant timescales.

Keywords:
attentionmiddle temporal areaprimary visual cortexvariability

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Visual attention improves perception by selecting relevant information.
  • Mechanisms include enhanced neural encoding and improved communication between brain areas.
  • Previous research focused on short timescales, leaving longer-term communication effects less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how attention modulates communication between cortical areas on longer timescales.
  • To test if attention enhances the transfer of visual information between primary visual cortex (V1) and the middle temporal area (MT).

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous recordings from V1 and MT neurons in rhesus monkeys during an attention task.
  • Correlative analysis of shared response variability between V1 and MT.
  • Causal investigation using microstimulation of V1 and assessing its effect on MT responses.

Main Results:

  • Attention increased trial-to-trial response variability shared between V1 and MT.
  • Microstimulation of V1 had a greater effect on MT responses when attention was directed.
  • These findings support the role of enhanced inter-areal communication in attention.

Conclusions:

  • Attention enhances visual perception by modulating both neural encoding within areas and communication between areas.
  • Communication between V1 and MT is strengthened by attention on behaviorally relevant timescales.
  • This improved communication contributes to the perceptual benefits of attention.