Neural correlates of object-based attention.

Much research has been directed toward disentangling the "units" of attention: Is attention directed to locations in space, visual objects, or to individual features of an object? Moreover, there is considerable interest in whether attention increases the gain of neural mechanisms (signal enhancement) or acts by other means, such as reducing noise or narrowing channel tuning. To address these questions, we used a direct measure of signal strength: the amplitude of visual evoked potentials and a task in which selection could be based on a depth order cue but not on location. Attended and nonattended stimuli were presented at different temporal frequencies, and, thus, responses to the two stimuli could be analyzed separately even though they were presented simultaneously. Attention increased the amplitude of the second harmonic component of the response, but not the fourth harmonic. In addition, responses measured at the second harmonic, but not at the fourth harmonic, were larger for stimuli seen as behind. The results are consistent with the fourth harmonic being generated at a stage of processing that is not accessible to attention and where depth order has not been extracted. The second harmonic, on the other hand, is modifiable by attention and shows evidence for differential encoding of depth order.

[1]  Mitchell Valdes-Sosa,et al.  Visual evoked potentials related to motion-onset are modulated by attention , 1999, Vision Research.

[2]  C. J. Downing.  Expectancy and visual-spatial attention: effects on perceptual quality. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[3]  Donatella Spinelli,et al.  Electrophysiological evidence for an early attentional mechanism in visual processing in humans , 1999, Vision Research.

[4]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task , 1974 .

[5]  Jon Driver,et al.  The neurobiology of selective attention , 1992, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[6]  M. Valdés-Sosa,et al.  Transparent motion and object-based attention , 1998, Cognition.

[7]  K Nakayama,et al.  Visual attention to surfaces in three-dimensional space. , 1995, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[8]  Jon Driver,et al.  Visual search for a conjunction of movement and form is parallel , 1988, Nature.

[9]  B. Scholl.  Objects and attention: the state of the art , 2001, Cognition.

[10]  D. LaBerge,et al.  Variations in size of the visual field in which targets are presented: An attentional range effect , 1986, Perception & psychophysics.

[11]  M. Posner,et al.  Orienting of Attention* , 1980, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[12]  Matthias M. Müller,et al.  Concurrent recording of steady-state and transient event-related potentials as indices of visual-spatial selective attention , 2000, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[13]  David C Burr,et al.  Feature-based integration of orientation signals in visual search , 2000, Vision Research.

[14]  J. Duncan.  Selective attention and the organization of visual information , 1984 .

[15]  S. Hillyard,et al.  Selective attention to color and location: An analysis with event-related brain potentials , 1984, Perception & psychophysics.

[16]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Visual attention within and around the field of focal attention: A zoom lens model , 1986, Perception & psychophysics.

[17]  F. Di Russo,et al.  Electrophysiological analysis of cortical mechanisms of selective attention to high and low spatial frequencies , 2001, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[18]  Mitchell Valdes-Sosa,et al.  Attentional shifts between surfaces: effects on detection and early brain potentials , 2001, Vision Research.

[19]  A. Norcia,et al.  An adaptive filter for steady-state evoked responses. , 1995, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[20]  A. Norcia,et al.  Plasticity of human motion processing mechanisms following surgery for infantile esotropia , 1995, Vision Research.

[21]  Matthias M. Müller,et al.  Effects of spatial selective attention on the steady-state visual evoked potential in the 20-28 Hz range. , 1998, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[22]  Francesco Di Russo,et al.  PII: S0042-6989(01)00134-1 , 2001 .

[23]  J Driver,et al.  A selective review of selective attention research from the past century. , 2001, British journal of psychology.

[24]  N. Kanwisher,et al.  Visual attention: Insights from brain imaging , 2000, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[25]  R. Desimone,et al.  Neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. , 1995, Annual review of neuroscience.

[26]  S. Parker,et al.  A scale for the psychological magnitude of number , 1974 .

[27]  J. Duncan.  Selective attention and the organization of visual information. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[28]  M Corbetta,et al.  Attentional modulation of neural processing of shape, color, and velocity in humans. , 1990, Science.

[29]  F H Previc,et al.  Size-specific information channels and selective attention: visual evoked potential and behavioral measures. , 1978, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[30]  S. Hillyard,et al.  Selective attention to the color and direction of moving stimuli: Electrophysiological correlates of hierarchical feature selection , 1996, Perception & psychophysics.

[31]  A. Norcia,et al.  Methods for the identification of evoked response components in the frequency and combined time/frequency domains. , 1986, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[32]  S. Hillyard,et al.  Selective attention to stimulus location modulates the steady-state visual evoked potential. , 1996, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[33]  A. Treisman.  Features and Objects: The Fourteenth Bartlett Memorial Lecture , 1988, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[34]  M. Farah,et al.  Does visual attention select objects or locations? , 1994, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[35]  S. A. Hillyard,et al.  The Spatial Allocation of Visual Attention as Indexed by Event-Related Brain Potentials , 1987, Human factors.

[36]  G. Mangun.  Neural mechanisms of visual selective attention. , 1995, Psychophysiology.

[37]  M. Posner,et al.  Attention and the detection of signals. , 1980, Journal of experimental psychology.

[38]  Nancy Kanwisher,et al.  fMRI evidence for objects as the units of attentional selection , 1999, Nature.

[39]  Howard S. Bashinski,et al.  Enhancement of perceptual sensitivity as the result of selectively attending to spatial locations , 1980, Perception & psychophysics.

[40]  P. McLeod,et al.  Motion coherence and conjunction search: Implications for guided search theory , 1992, Perception & psychophysics.

[41]  Pieter R. Roelfsema,et al.  Object-based attention in the primary visual cortex of the macaque monkey , 1998, Nature.

[42]  J. Findlay,et al.  Sensitivity and criterion effects in the spatial cuing of visual attention , 1987, Perception & psychophysics.

[43]  M. Valdés-Sosa,et al.  Switching Attention without Shifting the Spotlight: Object-Based Attentional Modulation of Brain Potentials , 1998, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[44]  A. C. Rencher.  Methods of multivariate analysis , 1995 .

[45]  N. P. Bichot,et al.  Visuospatial attention: Beyond a spotlight model , 1999, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[46]  P. McLeod,et al.  Filtering by movement in visual search. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[47]  A. Treisman.  Visual Attention and the Perception of Features and Objects , 1994 .