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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 2, 2026

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments

Published on: January 23, 2017

Normalization governs attentional modulation within human visual cortex.

Ilona M Bloem^1,2, Sam Ling^3,4

¹Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. ibloem@bu.edu.

Nature Communications

|December 13, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Attention enhances visual cortex responses by leveraging divisive normalization. This neural computation mechanism dictates how strongly visual subpopulations benefit from focused attention, particularly when normalization is increased.

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Last Updated: Jan 2, 2026

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Published on: July 5, 2015

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Visual Perception

Background:

Attention is known to modulate visual cortex responses, enhancing signal gain.
The precise neural mechanisms underlying attentional modulation remain incompletely understood.
Divisive normalization is a prominent model of neural computation in sensory systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of divisive normalization in attentional modulation of visual cortex responses.
To test the hypothesis that a neural population's capacity for attentional modulation is linked to its degree of divisive normalization.
To explore how feature similarity influences normalization and subsequent attentional benefits.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure brain activity.
The study leveraged the feature-tuned properties of divisive normalization to quantify normalization strength.
Attentional modulation was assessed by comparing brain responses under attended versus unattended conditions.

Main Results:

Visuocortical responses to stimuli sharing features exhibited stronger normalization.
Neural subpopulations demonstrating greater normalization also showed larger attentional benefits.
Attentional benefits were maximized when neural subpopulations were induced into a state of heightened normalization.

Conclusions:

The degree of divisive normalization within a neural subpopulation is a key factor determining its potential for attentional benefits.
Divisive normalization serves as a critical neural computation underlying attentional modulation in the visual cortex.
These findings provide a mechanistic link between neural normalization and the effects of attention on perception.