Attention modulates spatial priority maps in the human occipital, parietal and frontal cortices
Open accessAbstract
Computational theories propose that attention modulates the topographical landscape of spatial 'priority' maps in regions of the visual cortex so that the location of an important object is associated with higher activation levels. Although studies of single-unit recordings have demonstrated attention-related increases in the gain of neural responses and changes in the size of spatial receptive fields, the net effect of these modulations on the topography of region-level priority maps has not been investigated. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a multivariate encoding model to reconstruct spatial representations of attended and ignored stimuli using activation patterns across entire visual areas. These reconstructed spatial representations reveal the influence of attention on the amplitude and size of stimulus representations within putative priority maps across the visual hierarchy. Our results suggest that attention increases the amplitude of stimulus representations in these spatial maps, particularly in higher visual areas, but does not substantively change their size.
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Separate endogenous and exogenous attention networks exist, but their signals are likely combined either in parietal cortex or prefrontal cortex, perhaps as a priority map.
“Studies involving human subjects thus suggest that separate endogenous and exogenous attention networks exist, but that their signals are likely combined either in parietal cortex or the prefrontal cortex, perhaps as a priority map (reviewed in e.g. [45]).”
From Linking ADHD to the Neural Circuitry of Attention (2017) · cites this paper as [45]
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References 61 · Cited by 266
- Authors
- Sprague, T. C., & Serences, J. T.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sprague, Thomas C
- Serences, John T
- Venue
- Nature Neuroscience
- Published
- 2013-11-10
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1879-1887
- ISSN
- 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-1726
- PMC
- PMC3977704
- OpenAlex
- W2016966354
- Cited by
- 266
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 4.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R0I MH-092345, R01MH092345)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Spatial Neglect and Hemispheric Dysfunction
- Keywords
- visual attention, spatial representation, receptive field size, gain modulation, visual cortex, occipital cortex, parietal cortex, frontal cortex, visual hierarchy
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attention, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Eye Movements, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Models, Neurological, Oxygen, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Size Perception, Space Perception, Time Factors, Young Adult
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