Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
09:37
Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
Published on: July 5, 2015
Modulation of human extrastriate visual processing by selective attention to colours and words
A C Nobre1, T Allison, G McCarthy
1West Haven Veterans Administration Medical Center and Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, USA. anna.nobre@psy.ox.ac.uk
Brain : a Journal of Neurology
|July 29, 1998
Summary
Visual selective attention influences neural processing in the extrastriate visual cortex. Attention modulated word-related potentials in the fusiform gyrus, suggesting top-down word processing influences.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Neuroscience
Background:
- The extrastriate visual cortex is crucial for visual processing.
- Understanding how selective attention modulates neural activity in specialized visual areas is key to cognitive neuroscience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of visual selective attention on neural processing in the human extrastriate visual cortex.
- To determine if attention differentially affects processing within functionally specialized regions.
Main Methods:
- Recorded field potentials from the temporal lobes in epilepsy patients.
- Subjects performed a task requiring attention to one of two competing word texts.
- Stimuli (words) were presented individually and foveally, distinguished by color.
Main Results:
- Focal field potentials were evoked by words in the posterior fusiform gyrus.
- Selective attention significantly modulated long-latency potentials related to word processing.
- The attention effect co-localized with word-related potentials, not color-related potentials, in the posterior fusiform gyrus.
Conclusions:
- Stimuli undergo differential processing in specialized extrastriate cortex regions based on attention.
- The late onset and localization of the attention effect suggest top-down influences from word-processing regions.
More Related Videos
13:00Measuring Attention and Visual Processing Speed by Model-based Analysis of Temporal-order Judgments
Published on: January 23, 2017
06:46Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Related Concept Videos
01:32The Retina
The retina is a layer of nervous tissue at the back of the eye that transduces light into neural signals. This process, called phototransduction, is carried out by rod and cone photoreceptor cells in the back of the retina.
01:24Vision
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.
01:20Anatomy of the Eyeball
The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...
01:22Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
At the molecular level, visual signals trigger transformations in photopigment molecules, resulting in changes in the photoreceptor cell's membrane potential. The photon's energy level is denoted by its wavelength, with each specific wavelength of visible light associated with a distinct color. The spectral range of visible light, classified as electromagnetic radiation, spans from 380 to 720 nm. Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths exceeding 720 nm fall under the infrared category, whereas...
01:24Color Vision
Color perception begins in the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Two main theories explain how colors are seen: the trichromatic theory and the opponent-process theory. The trichromatic theory, proposed by Thomas Young in 1802 and extended by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1852, suggests that color vision is based on three types of cone receptors in the retina. These cones are sensitive to different but overlapping ranges of wavelengths corresponding to red, blue, and green.
01:20Parallel Processing
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...