Attention Lights Up New Object Representations Before the Old Ones Fade Away.
From: Department of Vision and Cognition, The Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. paul.khayat@mcgill.ca
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
- Publish Date: Jan 2006
- ISSN: 1529-2401
- Volume: 26
- Issue: 1
- Pages: 138-42
- Medium: Internet
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Khayat Paul S, Spekreijse Henk, Roelfsema Pieter R, et al. Attention Lights Up New Object Representations Before the Old Ones Fade Away.. J. Neurosci. Jan 2006;26:138-42
Abstract
We investigated how attention shifts from one object to another by recording neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex. Monkeys performed a contour-grouping task in which they had to select a target curve and ignore a distractor curve. Some trials required a shift of attention, because the target and distractor curves were switched during the course of the trial. We monitored the dynamics of this attention shift in area V1, in which neuronal responses evoked by the target curve are stronger than those evoked by the distractor. The reallocation of attention was associated with a rapid and strong enhancement of responses to the newly attended curve, followed, after approximately 60 ms, by a weaker suppression of responses to the curve from which attention was removed. We conclude that attention can be rapidly allocated to a new object before it disengages from the previously attended one.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Animals, Attention, Eye Movements, Macaca, Motion Perception, Neurons, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Visual Cortex
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 16399680
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