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Updated: Jan 13, 2026
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Dual-format attentional template during preparation in human visual cortex
Yilin Chen1, Taosheng Liu2, Ke Jia3,4,5
1Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Elife
|October 29, 2025
Summary
Attentional templates during preparation exist in two formats: abstract and sensory-like. A novel perturbation technique revealed that these preparatory neural patterns can shift towards a sensory format, improving behavioral performance and brain connectivity.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Visual Attention
Background:
- Goal-directed attention uses internal templates for behavior.
- Representation of attentional templates during preparation is debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the format of attentional templates during preparation.
- Differentiate preparatory activity from stimulus-evoked responses.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with an orientation cueing task.
- Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA).
- Visual impulse perturbation ('pinging' technique).
Main Results:
- Decodable orientation information found during preparation.
- Preparatory patterns differed from perceived orientation patterns.
- Perturbation induced sensory-like preparatory patterns in visual cortex.
- Sensory-like template emergence correlated with V1-frontoparietal connectivity and improved behavior.
Conclusions:
- Attentional templates exist in dual formats: predominantly non-sensory and latent sensory-like.
- The brain utilizes a dual-format mechanism for adaptive attentional control.
- This mechanism supports both abstract guidance and detailed stimulus processing.
Keywords:
attentional templatedecodingfMRIhumanimpulse perturbationneural representationneurosciencevisual cortexMore Related Videos
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