Subcortical Modulation of Attention Counters Change Blindness

Cavanaugh, James R.; Wurtz, Robert H.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3724-04.2004

Cited by 220 publications

(208 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…This finding addresses an important caveat to recent studies reporting attentional benefits from microstimulation of saccade representations during psychophysical tasks. The concern is that the observed effects could be due to an indirect effect of microstimulation (11,23,27,28). Specifically, microstimulation could perhaps induce a spatially localized experience that could subsequently orient attention to the veridical stimulus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, microstimulation could perhaps induce a spatially localized experience that could subsequently orient attention to the veridical stimulus. Although the possibility of inducing a visual experience, or phosphene, is considered most often (11,23,27,28), microstimulation could conceivably induce a variety of experiences, including highly complex or ''psychical'' ones (29,30). However, the rapid enhancement in discriminability implies that rather than producing an experience that subsequently attracts attention, FEF microstimulation activates a neural circuit responsible for modulating visual responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, unless our observations were due primarily to antidromic activation of neurons outside the FEF, e.g., in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP), our results imply that FEF neurons, perhaps by way of other structures activated orthodromically, enhance representations in visual cortex during spatial attention. Indeed, the FEF projects to the superior colliculus (SC) and area LIP, two areas known to be involved in both saccade control and visual attention (23,27,28,31,32). Thus, there are several pathways by which FEF stimulation could act on visual responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rapid enhancement of visual cortical response discriminability by microstimulation of the frontal eye field

Armstrong

Moore²

2007

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

174

119

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Visual attention provides a means of selecting among the barrage of information reaching the retina and of enhancing the perceptual discriminability of relevant stimuli. Neurophysiological studies in monkeys and functional imaging studies in humans have demonstrated neural correlates of these perceptual improvements in visual cortex during attention. Importantly, voluntary attention improves the discriminability of visual cortical responses to relevant stimuli. Recent work aimed at identifying sources of attentional modulation has implicated the frontal eye field (FEF) in driving spatial attention. Subthreshold microstimulation of the FEF enhances the responses of area V4 neurons to spatially corresponding stimuli. However, it is not known whether these enhancements include improved visual-response discriminability, a hallmark of voluntary attention. We used receiver-operator characteristic analysis to quantify how well V4 responses discriminated visual stimuli and examined how discriminability was affected by FEF microstimulation. Discriminability of responses to stable visual stimuli decayed over time but was transiently restored after microstimulation of the FEF. As observed during voluntary attention, the enhancement resulted only from changes in the magnitude of V4 responses and not in the relationship between response magnitude and variance. Enhanced response discriminability was apparent immediately after microstimulation and was reliable within 40 ms of microstimulation onset, indicating a direct influence of FEF stimulation on visual representations. These results contribute to the mounting evidence that saccade-related signals are a source of spatial attentive selection.cognition ͉ gain control ͉ oculomotor ͉ prefrontal cortex ͉ visual perception C overt visual attention selectively enhances relevant signals from among the flood of information that enters the eye. Perception of attended stimuli is enhanced in a variety of ways (1-3), but in general discrimination of attended stimuli is improved (4). Neurophysiological studies in monkeys and functional imaging studies in humans have demonstrated neural correlates of these perceptual improvements in visual cortex during attention (5-7). Recent work has implicated saccaderelated circuits in driving modulations of visual processing during spatial attention. Specifically, subthreshold microstimulation of the frontal eye field (FEF), an area involved in the control of voluntary saccadic eye movements (8, 9), improves performance on an attention task (10, 11) and transiently enhances visual responses in extrastriate area V4 (12, 13). It is known that voluntary attention improves the discriminability of V4 neuronal responses (14,15) and that the enhanced discriminability results from selective changes in the magnitude of visual responses but not in their reliability (16). Although the effects of FEF microstimulation on V4 responses mirror those of voluntary attention in some respects (12, 13), how FEF microstimulation affects response discriminability and reli...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rapid enhancement of visual cortical response discriminability by microstimulation of the frontal eye field

Armstrong

Moore²

2007

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

174

119

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The LIP thus is proposed to encode a salient representation of the environment, which specifies the momentary locus of attention (Gottlieb et al, 1998;Goldberg et al, 2002). Two areas with which the LIP is interconnected strongly, the frontal eye field (FEF) and the superior colliculus (SC), are thought to play similar roles in attention (Cavanaugh and Wurtz, 2004;Thompson and Bichot, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Visuospatial and Effector Information during Symbolically Cued Limb Movements in Monkey Lateral Intraparietal Area

Oristaglio

Schneider²,

Balan³

et al. 2006

J. Neurosci.

131

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Natural behavior requires close but flexible coordination between attention, defined as selection for perception, and action. In recent years a distributed network including the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) has been implicated in visuospatial selection for attention and rapid eye movements (saccades), but the relation between the attentional and motor functions of this area remains unclear. Here we tested LIP neurons in a task that involved not an ocular but a manual operant response. Monkeys viewed a display containing one cue and several distractors and reported the orientation of the cue (right-or left-facing) by releasing one of two bars grasped, respectively, with the right or left hand. The movement in this task thus was associated with (cued by), but not directed toward, the visual stimulus. A large majority of neurons responded more when the cue rather than when a distractor was in their receptive field, suggesting that they contribute to the attentional selection of the cue. A fraction of these neurons also was modulated by limb release, thus simultaneously encoding cue location and the active limb. The results suggest that the LIP links behaviorally relevant visual information with motor variables relevant for solving a task in a wide range of circumstances involving goal-directed or symbolically cued movements and eye as well as limb movements. A central function of the LIP may be to coordinate visual and motor selection during a wide variety of behaviors.

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“…Current models postulate that stimulus selection occurs through a process involving competitive interaction between different visual stimuli, resulting in the appropriate eye-head movement (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). The optic tectum (superior colliculus in mammals) has a causal role in the stimulus selection process (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and not only in the control of saccades and eyehead gaze shifts (13)(14)(15)(16). Although the collicular contribution to the selection process is of central importance, the underlying neuronal processes have remained elusive due to methodological limitations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectal microcircuit generating visual selection commands on gaze-controlling neurons

Kardamakis

Saitoh

Grillner

2015

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

132

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The optic tectum (called superior colliculus in mammals) is critical for eye-head gaze shifts as we navigate in the terrain and need to adapt our movements to the visual scene. The neuronal mechanisms underlying the tectal contribution to stimulus selection and gaze reorientation remains, however, unclear at the microcircuit level. To analyze this complex-yet phylogenetically conservedsensorimotor system, we developed a novel in vitro preparation in the lamprey that maintains the eye and midbrain intact and allows for whole-cell recordings from prelabeled tectal gaze-controlling cells in the deep layer, while visual stimuli are delivered. We found that receptive field activation of these cells provide monosynaptic retinal excitation followed by local GABAergic inhibition (feedforward). The entire remaining retina, on the other hand, elicits only inhibition (surround inhibition). If two stimuli are delivered simultaneously, one inside and one outside the receptive field, the former excitatory response is suppressed. When local inhibition is pharmacologically blocked, the suppression induced by competing stimuli is canceled. We suggest that this rivalry between visual areas across the tectal map is triggered through long-range inhibitory tectal connections. Selection commands conveyed via gazecontrolling neurons in the optic tectum are, thus, formed through synaptic integration of local retinotopic excitation and global tectal inhibition. We anticipate that this mechanism not only exists in lamprey but is also conserved throughout vertebrate evolution.optic tectum | superior colliculus | GABAergic inhibition | gaze control | evolution V isual scenes are composed of abundant stimuli, and the gaze needs continuously to be redirected toward different objectsan important task for the brain. Current models postulate that stimulus selection occurs through a process involving competitive interaction between different visual stimuli, resulting in the appropriate eye-head movement (1-5). The optic tectum (superior colliculus in mammals) has a causal role in the stimulus selection process (6-12) and not only in the control of saccades and eyehead gaze shifts (13-16). Although the collicular contribution to the selection process is of central importance, the underlying neuronal processes have remained elusive due to methodological limitations. It is our aim here to address this issue in a novel experimental model.The optic tectum is well developed in the lamprey, belonging to the oldest extant vertebrate group that evolved 560 million years ago (17), and it has remained conserved throughout vertebrate phylogeny (18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Afferents from retina provide a direct input to the superficial layers of the optic tectum, where a retinotopic map is formed (23-26). The intermediate and deep layers give rise to projections to brainstem areas and a motor map is formed that is responsible for the coordination of eye, head, and body movements (22,(27)(28)(29).To uncover the mechanisms underlying visual stimulus selection for gaz...

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Subcortical Modulation of Attention Counters Change Blindness

Cited by 220 publications

References 47 publications

Rapid enhancement of visual cortical response discriminability by microstimulation of the frontal eye field

Rapid enhancement of visual cortical response discriminability by microstimulation of the frontal eye field

Integration of Visuospatial and Effector Information during Symbolically Cued Limb Movements in Monkey Lateral Intraparietal Area

Tectal microcircuit generating visual selection commands on gaze-controlling neurons

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