Prefrontal contributions to visual selective attention
Abstract
The faculty of attention endows us with the capacity to process important sensory information selectively while disregarding information that is potentially distracting. Much of our understanding of the neural circuitry underlying this fundamental cognitive function comes from neurophysiological studies within the visual modality. Past evidence suggests that a principal function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is selective attention and that this function involves the modulation of sensory signals within posterior cortices. In this review, we discuss recent progress in identifying the specific prefrontal circuits controlling visual attention and its neural correlates within the primate visual system. In addition, we examine the persisting challenge of precisely defining how behavior should be affected when attentional function is lost.
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One or more of these structures drives selection of attended stimuli within posterior visual cortex.
“Evidence to date suggests that one or more of these structures drives the selection of attended stimuli within posterior visual cortex (see [29] for review).”
From Linking ADHD to the Neural Circuitry of Attention (2017) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- Squire, R. F., Noudoost, B., Schafer, R. J., & Moore, T.
- Affiliations
- Department of Neurobiology and
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2013-07-08
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 451-466
- ISSN
- 0147-006X (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4126
- OpenAlex
- W2102593343
- Cited by
- 260
- References
- 78
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Eye Institute (EY014924, R01EY014924)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Keywords
- visual selective attention, prefrontal cortex, primate visual system, attention deficits
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Attention, Humans, Judgment, Visual Pathways, Visual Perception, Prefrontal Cortex
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