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Updated: Aug 7, 2025
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Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
Published on: July 5, 2015
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Dissociable neuronal substrates of visual feature attention and working memory
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|March 13, 2023
Summary
Feature attention and working memory (WM) involve distinct neural mechanisms. Research shows the posterior lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC-p) is crucial for attention, not WM.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Attention and working memory (WM) are distinct cognitive functions with proposed shared neural mechanisms.
- Investigating the neural substrates underlying these functions is key to understanding cognition.
Approach:
- Monitored neuronal activity in macaques during a WM-guided feature attention task.
- Optogenetically inactivated the posterior lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC-p) during attention or WM periods.
Key Points:
- Most neurons in areas MT, MST, LIP, and LPFC-p showed either WM coding or attentional modulation, but not both.
- LPFC-p inactivation during the attention period impaired performance and reduced attentional modulation in several brain areas.
- LPFC-p inactivation during the WM period had minimal impact on WM coding and no effect on attentional modulation or performance.
Conclusions:
- Feature attention and WM possess dissociable neuronal substrates.
- The LPFC-p plays a critical role in attention, but not in working memory.
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