Cone signals divide into parallel ON and OFF bipolar cell pathways, which respond to objects brighter or darker than the background and release glutamate onto the corresponding type of ganglion cell. It is assumed that ganglion cell excitatory responses are driven by these bipolar cell synapses. Here, we report an additional mechanism: OFF ganglion cells were driven in part by the removal of synaptic inhibition (

Performance in many visual tasks is impaired when observers attempt to divide spatial attention across multiple visual field locations. Correspondingly, neuronal response magnitudes in visual cortex are often reduced during divided compared with focused spatial attention. This suggests that early visual cortex is the site of capacity limits, where finite processing resources must be divided among attended stimuli. However, behavioral research demonstrates that not all visual tasks suffer such capacity limits: The costs of divided attention are minimal when the task and stimulus are simple, such as when searching for a target defined by orientation or contrast. To date, however, every neuroimaging study of divided attention has used more complex tasks and found large reductions in response magnitude. We bridged that gap by using functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure responses in the human visual cortex during simple feature detection. The first experiment used a visual search task: Observers detected a low-contrast Gabor patch within one or four potentially relevant locations. The second experiment used a dual-task design, in which observers made independent judgments of Gabor presence in patches of dynamic noise at two locations. In both experiments, blood-oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) signals in the retinotopic cortex were significantly lower for ignored than attended stimuli. However, when observers divided attention between multiple stimuli, BOLD signals were not reliably reduced and behavioral performance was unimpaired. These results suggest that processing of simple features in early visual cortex has unlimited capacity.

Contrasting theories of visual attention have emphasized selection by spatial location, individual features, and whole objects. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to ask whether and how attention to one feature of an object spreads to other features of the same object. Subjects viewed two spatially superimposed surfaces of random dots that were segregated by distinct color-motion conjunctions. The color and direction of motion of each surface changed smoothly and in a cyclical fashion. Subjects were required to track one feature (e.g., color) of one of the two surfaces and detect brief moments when the attended feature diverged from its smooth trajectory. To tease apart the effect of attention to individual features on the hemodynamic response, we used a frequency-tagging scheme. In this scheme, the stimulus features (color and direction of motion) are modulated periodically at distinct frequencies so that the contribution of each feature to the hemodynamics can be inferred from the harmonic response at the corresponding frequency. We found that attention to one feature (e.g., color) of one surface increased the response modulation not only to the attended feature but also to the other feature (e.g., motion) of the same surface. This attentional modulation was evident in multiple visual areas and was present as early as V1. The spread of attention to the behaviorally irrelevant features of a surface suggests that attention may automatically select all features of a single object. Thus object-based attention may be supported by an enhancement of feature-specific sensory signals in the visual cortex.

In object-based attention, it is easier to divide attention between features within a single object than between features across objects. In this study we test the prediction of several capacity models in order to best characterize the cost to dividing attention between objects. Here we studied behavioral performance on a divided attention task in which subjects attended to the motion and luminance of overlapping random dot kinemategrams, specifically red upward moving dots superimposed with green downward moving dots. Subjects were required to detect brief changes (transients) in the motion or luminance within the same surface or across different surfaces. There were two primary results. First, the dual-task deficit was large when attention was divided across two surfaces and near zero when attention was divided within a surface. This is consistent with limited-capacity processing across surfaces and unlimited-capacity processing within a surface-a pattern predicted by established theories of object-based attention. Second and unexpectedly, there was evidence of crosstalk between features: when cued to monitor transients on one surface, response rates were inflated by the presence of a transient on the other surface. Such crosstalk is a failure of selective attention between surfaces.

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