Cited by 18Visual perception and processing mechanismsNeural dynamics and brain functionVisual Attention and Saliency Detection

Attentional Recruitment of Inter-Areal Recurrent Networks for Selective Gain Control

Hahnloser, Richard H. R., Douglas, Rodney J., Hepp, Klaus·2002·Neural Computation

Abstract

There is strong anatomical and physiological evidence that neurons with large receptive fields located in higher visual areas are recurrently connected to neurons with smaller receptive fields in lower areas. We have previously described a minimal neuronal network architecture in which top-down attentional signals to large receptive field neurons can bias and selectively read out the bottom-up sensory information to small receptive field neurons (Hahnloser, Douglas, Mahowald, & Hepp, 1999). Here we study an enhanced model, where the role of attention is to recruit specific inter-areal feedback loops (e.g., drive neurons above firing threshold). We first illustrate the operation of recruitment on a simple example of visual stimulus selection. In the subsequent analysis, we find that attentional recruitment operates by dynamical modulation of signal amplification and response multistability. In particular, we find that attentional stimulus selection necessitates increased recruitment when the stimulus to be selected is of small contrast and of small distance away from distractor stimuli. The selectability of a low-contrast stimulus is dependent on the gain of attentional effects; for example, low-contrast stimuli can be selected only when attention enhances neural responses. However, the dependence of attentional selection on stimulus-distractor distance is not contingent on whether attention enhances or suppresses responses. The computational implications of attentional recruitment are that cortical circuits can behave as winner-take-all mechanisms of variable strength and can achieve close to optimal signal discrimination in the presence of external noise.

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Crossref · 10.1162/08997660260028665

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  • Gain increases may optimize signal discrimination in presence of external noise by facilitating attractor dynamics and promoting a winner-take-all mechanism.

    “Gain increases may optimize signal discrimination in the presence of external noise by facilitating attractor dynamics218 and promoting a winner-take-all mechanism219,220.”

    From Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex (2020) · cites this paper as [220]

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Authors
Hahnloser, R. H. R., Douglas, R. J., & Hepp, K.
Affiliations
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
Venue
Neural Computation
Published
2002-07-01
Volume
14
Issue
7
Pages
1669-1689
ISSN
  • 0899-7667 (ISSN-L)
  • 1530-888X
OpenAlex
W2114011863
Cited by
18
References
35
Citations by year
2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
0.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Neural Computation (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
  • Körber-Stiftung
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
Keywords
top-down attention, gain control, stimulus selection, signal amplification, winner-take-all circuit, distractor suppression, low-contrast stimuli, signal discrimination, cortical circuits
MeSH terms
Animals, Attention, Neurons, Visual Cortex, Visual Pathways, Contrast Sensitivity, Artifacts, Neural Networks, Computer

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