Global effects of feature-based attention in human visual cortex

Sàenz, Melissa; Buračas, Giedrius T.; Boynton, Geoffrey M.

doi:10.1038/nn876

Cited by 562 publications

(539 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…It is true that our conclusions obtained in a task requiring the sustained monitoring of a particular feature (contrast) at multiple static locations may not generalize to studies concerned with transient aspects of attention or to tasks requiring the sustained monitoring of multiple locations independent of featural information (e.g., multiple-object-tracking paradigms). Similarly, we address only spatial aspects of attention, whereas it is well known that some feature-based forms of attention can enhance the processing of a particular feature throughout the entire visual field, i.e., in a nonspatial way (26)(27)(28). It would seem, however, that even if the present results were shown to hold only for a very particular form of attention under specific experimental conditions, they would still provide a forceful challenge for current theories of attention, most of which are not equipped to explain our findings-with only a few exceptions (29).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The blinking spotlight of attention

VanRullen

Carlson

Cavanagh

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

245

224

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Increasing evidence suggests that attention can concurrently select multiple locations; yet it is not clear whether this ability relies on continuous allocation of attention to the different targets (a ''parallel'' strategy) or whether attention switches rapidly between the targets (a periodic ''sampling'' strategy). Here, we propose a method to distinguish between these two alternatives. The human psychometric function for detection of a single target as a function of its duration can be used to predict the corresponding function for two or more attended targets. Importantly, the predicted curves differ, depending on whether a parallel or sampling strategy is assumed. For a challenging detection task, we found that human performance was best reflected by a sampling model, indicating that multiple items of interest were processed in series at a rate of approximately seven items per second. Surprisingly, the data suggested that attention operated in this periodic regime, even when it was focused on a single target. That is, attention might rely on an intrinsically periodic process.oscillation ͉ parallel vs. serial S elective attention denotes the ability to enhance processing of a particular location or object. In recent years a number of studies have suggested that multiple locations can be concurrently attended (1-6). In most of these cases, however, it is difficult to distinguish a true (i.e., sustained) division of the attentional spotlight, from a strategy in which a single attentional focus would switch rapidly between the different targets. Indeed, both strategies could explain the occurrence of classic ''set size effects'' (i.e., decreases of performance with increasing number of attended items) either because attention is a limited resource (''parallel'' strategy), or because the effective time that attention samples each object decreases when several objects must be attended (''sampling'' strategy). With respect to visual search tasks, in which a single target must be detected among a variable number of elements, this debate has divided the community for quite some time, with no accepted conclusion [Sternberg S (1973) in Annual Meeting of the Psychonomics Society in St. Louis, MO,. A similarly unresolved argument has been made regarding multiple-object tracking paradigms (15)(16)(17)(18).Here, we propose a quantitative strategy for distinguishing between these alternatives: The psychometric function for detection of a single target as a function of its duration can be used to predict the expected psychometric function for multiple targets, and the predicted shape is quite different for parallel and sequential strategies. We can thus determine which strategy best describes the performance of human observers with multiple attended items. The mathematical details of this method are given in supporting information (SI) Appendix, but the underlying idea can also be understood in simple terms. A ''probe'' event of variable duration must be detected by the observer (Fig. 1). When only a single location is cu...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The blinking spotlight of attention

VanRullen

Carlson

Cavanagh

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

245

224

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“…In this manner, red targets, for instance, could be processed preferentially throughout the visual field. Experimental evidence for this kind of biasing was found for color and luminance in macaque area V4 (Motter, 1994), for motion in macaque MT (Treue and Martinez Trujillo, 1999), and for color and motion in human V4 and MT (Saenz et al, 2002). …”

Section: Feature-based Attentionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Attention in hierarchical models of object recognition

Walther

Koch

2007

Progress in Brain Research

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Object recognition and visual attention are tightly linked processes in human perception. Over the last three decades, many models have been suggested to explain these two processes and their interactions, and in some cases these models appear to contradict each other. We suggest a unifying framework for object recognition and attention and review the existing modeling literature in this context. Furthermore, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept implementation for sharing complex features between recognition and attention as a mode of top-down attention to particular objects or object categories."At first he'd most easily make out the shadows; and after that the phantoms of the human beings and the other things in water; and, later, the things themselves." -Socrates describing the visual experience of a man exposed to the richness of the visual world outside his cave for the first time (Plato, The Republic).

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“…Additional evidence for the existence of spatially global feature-based attentional modulations was provided by fMRI and ERP studies in humans (Saenz, Buracas, & Boynton, 2002;Serences & Boynton, 2007;Zhang & Luck, 2009). In these studies, observers attended to a specific task-relevant feature in one visual field, and objects in the other unattended hemifield triggered enhanced visual responses when they matched the feature that was currently attended on the opposite side.…”

Section: Attentional Guidance and Feature-based Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EPS Mid-Career Award 2014

Eimer

2015

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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In visual search, observers try to find known target objects among distractors in visual scenes where the location of the targets is uncertain. This review article discusses the attentional processes that are active during search and their neural basis. Four successive phases of visual search are described. During the initial preparatory phase, a representation of the current search goal is activated. Once visual input has arrived, information about the presence of target-matching features is accumulated in parallel across the visual field (guidance). This information is then used to allocate spatial attention to particular objects (selection), before representations of selected objects are activated in visual working memory (recognition). These four phases of attentional control in visual search are characterized both at the cognitive level and at the neural implementation level. It will become clear that search is a continuous process that unfolds in real time. Selective attention in visual search is described as the gradual emergence of spatially specific and temporally sustained biases for representations of task-relevant visual objects in cortical maps.3

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Global effects of feature-based attention in human visual cortex

Cited by 562 publications

References 15 publications

The blinking spotlight of attention

The blinking spotlight of attention

Attention in hierarchical models of object recognition

EPS Mid-Career Award 2014

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