1,721,067 research outputs found
Serial attention mechanisms in visual search: a critical look at the evidence
No full textUntil a few years ago, visual search tasks were of exclusive pertinence to psychophysicists and cognitive psychologists trying to understand the operating principles and computational constraints of visual perception and visual selective attention. In recent years, cognitive neuroscience, with its powerful tools, has started to explore more directly the neuronal mechanisms underlying search performance in humans and macaques, aiming at the same general goals. New observations from a number of cognitive neuroscience approaches are promising a near future of great excitement in this field of research. This article offers a critical review of some of these recent contributions and highlights some of the interpretational problems that they pose
Neural mechanisms for stimulus selection in cortical areas of the macaque subserving object vision
No full textThe present article reviews some recent work on the neuronal mechanisms underlying space-based and feature-based stimulus selection in the primate occipito-temporal pathway of cortical visual processing. Clear evidence demonstrates that activity in areas V4 and IT is high for a stimulus which is selected either for its position in space or for its features, while it is considerably suppressed for other, irrelevant stimuli. Data are discussed within a conceptual framework whereby objects in the visual field always compete for focal resources. According to task demands, any kind of input (objects of a certain category, objects with a certain form, color or motion, objects at a certain location) can be behaviorally relevant. A short-term description (working memory) of the currently relevant object properties controls competitive bias in the visual system, such that inputs matching that description are favored to the disadvantage of task-irrelevant inputs. This framework emphasizes a tight, causal link between memory signals and mechanisms for stimulus selection in visual cortex. In all cases gating of neural activity was constrained by spatial factors. In area V4, responses to an ignored stimulus in the receptive field of the recorded neuron were maximally suppressed when the monkey attended to a second stimulus located within the boundary of the same receptive field, while suppression was virtually absent when attention was directed to a second stimulus well outside the receptive field border. In IT cortex, suppressed responses depended on both the selected and ignored stimuli being within the hemifield contralateral to the recorded hemisphere, while suppression was much reduced when the stimuli were presented across the vertical midline. These spatial constraints on the occurrence of modulation of visual responses may reflect limitations imposed by the local pattern of reciprocal inhibitory connections, which are supposed to underlie competitive interactions among objects in the field, that is among object representations in cortex
Visual selective attention and the effects of monetary rewards
No full textOutcomes of actions, in the form of rewards and punishments, are known to shape behavior. For example, an action followed by reward will be more readily elicited on subsequent encounters with the same stimuli and context -- a phenomenon known as the law of effect. These consequences of rewards (and punishments) are important because they reinforce adaptive behaviors at the expense of competing ones, thus increasing fitness of the organism in its environment. However, it is unknown whether similar influences regulate covert mental processes, such as visual selective attention. Visual selective attention allows privileged processing of task-relevant information, while inhibiting distracting contextual elements. Using variable monetary rewards as arbitrary feedback on performance, we tested whether acts of attentional selection, and in particular the resulting aftereffects, can be modulated by their consequences. Results show that the efficacy of visual selective attention can be sensibly adjusted by external feedback. Specifically, although lingering inhibition of distractors is robust after highly rewarded selections, it is eliminated after poorly rewarded selections. This powerful feature of visual selective attention provides attentive processes with both flexibility and self-regulation properties
Volitional covert orienting to a peripheral cue does not suppress cue-induced inhibition of return
No full textDetection reaction time (RT) at an extrafoveal location can be increased by noninformative precues presented at that location or ipsilaterally to it. This cue-induced inhibition is called inhibition of return or ipsilateral inhibition. We measured detection RT to simple light targets at extrafoveal locations that could be designated for covert orienting by local or distant cues. We found that cue-induced inhibition cooccurred in an additive fashion with the direct effects of covert orienting, i.e., it detracted from facilitation at attended locations and increased the disadvantage for unattended locations. Thus, cue-induced inhibition cannot be suppressed by a volitional covert orienting to the cued location; the co-occurrence of different facilitatory and inhibitory effects confirms the simultaneous operation of multiple independent attentional mechanisms during covert orienting
Competitive mechanisms subserve attention in macaque areas V2 and V4
No full textExamined neural mechanisms involved in the modulation of attention in visual processing in extrastriate cortex. The assumption is made that multiple stimuli activate competing populations of neurons and that attention biases this competition in favor of the attended stimulus. Attention has a more limited effect on the neuronal response to a single stimulus. To test this interpretation, we measured the responses of neurons in macaque areas V2 and V4 using a behavioral paradigm that allowed us to isolate automatic sensory processing mechanisms from attentional effects. First, we measured each cell's response to a single stimulus presented alone inside the receptive field or paired with a second receptive field stimulus, while the monkey attended to a location outside the receptive field. Adding the second stimulus typically caused the neuron's response to move toward the response that was elicited by the second stimulus alone. Then, we directed the monkey's attention to one element of the pair. This drove the neuron's response toward the response elicited when the attended stimulus appeared alone. Findings are consistent with the idea that attention biases competitive interactions among neurons, causing them to respond primarily to the attended stimulus. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved
The principle of good continuation in space and time can guide visual search in the absence of spatial priming or contextual cueing
No full textPrevious research has shown that repetition of the same target features or target spatial position over time can improve search. It has also been shown that a consistent relationship between a given target and the features or spatial arrangement of the accompanying distractors can similarly improve search. Thus it appears that the spatial and non-spatial characteristics of the target and/or the distractors are somehow retained by the visual system and used to guide visual processes such as object recognition and search. Here, we introduced a paradigm for manipulating the sequential structure of target position across trials independently of target features and contextual information. Results show that visual search is improved or impaired, respectively, when the target appears at an implicitly expected or unexpected position, according to the principle of good continuation of the target's successive positions across trials. These results are not merely due to bottom - up spatial priming, since facilitation also occurs for positions far from those recently occupied by the target, nor to contextual cueing, since the relative positions of the target and distractors are kept constant. These results demonstrate that the principle of good continuation in space and time can guide visual selective attention and ease search processes and object recognition
Effects of ethanol and imidazobenzodiazepine Ro 15-4513 on spontaneous saccades of the pigmented rat
No full textThe present study was aimed at investigating the alterations of the spontaneous saccadic eye movements of pigmented rats following ethanol administration. In addition we have studied the efficacy of the imidazobenzodiazepine Ro 15-4513 in reversing the effects of alcohol on saccades. The horizontal component of spontaneous eye movements was recorded by means of the magnetic field search coil technique on 11 head-restrained, pigmented rats. After the intraperitoneal injection of ethanol (1 g/kg) spontaneous saccades showed: i) a backward post-saccadic drift, with an exponential-like time course (time constant 100-150 ms); ii) a remarkable reduction of mean saccadic amplitude, up to 37% of control; iii) a significant decrease of peak velocity, which was reduced to about 80% of control. All these effects appeared and developed within a few minutes after the administration and were still present one hour later. When Ro 15-4513 (5 mg/kg) was injected i.p., 15 min after ethanol, the post-saccadic drift amplitude was immediately reduced and the drift was completely abolished within about 30 min. Mean saccadic amplitude returned to control values within a few minutes and was then steadily maintained for the following period examined (30 min). On the contrary, peak velocity showed only a slight tendency to recover which never was significant. When the same dose of Ro 15-4513 was injected alone there was no post-saccadic drift. However, mean saccadic amplitude increased, almost immediately, up to 160% of control. Its value showed a slight constant decrease in the following 30 min. Peak velocity was only slightly increased (up to 106% of control), but never was significantly different from control. Our results show that ethanol induces a remarkable impairment in the performance of spontaneous saccades. The imidazobenzodiazepine Ro 15-4513 is able to reverse completely only some of the alcohol-induced alterations, i.e. the post-saccadic drift and the reduction of saccadic amplitude, while it fails to counter efficiently the reduction of peak velocity. Ro 15-4513 exerts an intrinsic action, which is opposite to that of ethanol, on some of the saccadic parameters we have examined
Spontaneous saccades and gaze holding ability in the pigmented rat: II. Effects of localized cerebellar lesions.
No full textWe have studied the effects of the ablation of the cerebellar vermal area corresponding to lobules VI - VIII and of the flocculus - paraflocculus of both sides on the spontaneous eye movements performed in the light and in the dark in head-restrained pigmented rats. These effects have been compared with those already described for the inferior olive lesion. The cerebellar lesions were performed 1 week to 6 months in advance. Eye movements were recorded through a phase detection search coil apparatus. Following vermal topectomy, the main characteristics of the spontaneous saccades are unmodified. Following the ablation of the flocculus - paraflocculus there is no change in the saccadic main sequence. However, the spontaneous saccades in the dark present a postsaccadic drift made up of two components with different time courses, the first one being fast and the second one slow. The former is due in part to a mismatch between the phasic (the pulse) and the tonic (the step) components of the eye movements; the latter to the leakage of the neural integrator. In light only the first component is present and the eye maintains a steady position. The time constant of the neural integrator is considerably reduced to approximately 600 - 900 ms from a value of approximately 1600 - 4000 ms in the intact rats. The amplitude of the postsaccadic drift in the light depends on both the mismatch between the pulse and the step of innervation of the extraocular muscles and the increased leakiness of the neural integrator. The gain of the pulse to step transformation is reduced to approximately 0.79 at all saccadic amplitudes and eccentricities and such a reduction is due to a decreased step amplitude, while the pulse amplitude remains unchanged. The contribution of the leakage of the neural integrator to the postsaccadic drift in the light is a function of the eccentricity with a slope of 0.23. The deficits described after flocculus - paraflocculus ablation are also very similar to those described following inferior olive lesion from a quantitative point of view. The possible mechanisms of the visually activated olivocerebellar system in the control of saccadic performance and in maintaining its calibration are discussed
High-pressure structural behavior of ingersonite, Ca 3 Mn 2+ Sb 5+ 4 O 14 : an in situ single-crystal X-ray study
No full textSaccadic eye movements and gaze in the head-restrained pigmented rat.
No full textSpontaneous saccadic eye movements were recorded in seven head-restrained pigmented rats by means of a phase detection search coil system, both in the light and in the dark. In an illuminated environment, all the rats made numerous spontaneous saccades with an average amplitude of 13.2 deg (+/- 2.2 SD) and a maximal amplitude of 35 deg. In the dark, mean saccadic amplitude was significantly reduced to 9.2 deg (+/- 2.0 SD). Saccadic peak velocity increased linearly as a function of saccadic size, with no saturation at high amplitude values. In the light, peak velocity increase was 32.7 deg/s/deg (+/- 3.5 SD). This value is higher than that described in many other species including man and is similar to that of the monkey. Also saccadic duration increased linearly as a function of size at a rate of 1 ms/deg, which is closer to that of monkey than to that of other species including man. Both peak velocity and duration were not significantly different in the dark from those measured in the light. In the light, following a saccadic gaze shift, the rats were able to maintain a steady eye position for long periods, also at large orbital eccentricities. In the dark, on the contrary, the eye presented a drift towards the central position in the orbit. Such a drift had an exponential-like time course with a time constant of 1567 ms (+/- 829 SD), a value which is much shorter than that of cat and primates. This indicates that in the absence of a visual input, the rat has a poor gaze holding ability compared to other species
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