Linked Life Data

12781139

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/12781139

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
11
pubmed:dateCreated
2003-6-3
pubmed:abstractText
Attention can modulate sensitivity to local stimuli in early vision. But, can attention also modulate integration of local stimuli into global visual patterns? We recently measured effects of attention on the phenomenon of lateral interactions between collinear elements, commonly thought to reflect long-range mechanisms in early visual cortex underlying contour integration. We showed improved detection of low-contrast central Gabor targets in the context of collinear flankers, but only when the collinear flankers were attended for a secondary task rather than ignored in favor of an orthogonal flanker pair. Here, we contrast two hypotheses for how attention might modulate flanker influences on the target: by changing just local sensitivity to the flankers themselves (flanker-modulation-only hypothesis), or by weighting integrative connections between flanker and target (connection-weighting hypothesis). Modeled on the known nonlinear dependence of target visibility on collinear flanker contrast, the first hypothesis predicts that an increase in physical flanker contrast should readily offset any reduction in their effective contrast when ignored, thus eliminating attentional modulation. Conversely, the second hypothesis predicts that attentional modulation should persist even for the highest flanker contrasts. Our results showed the latter outcome and indicated that attention modulates flanker-target integration, rather than just processing of local flanker elements.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0960-9822
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
27
pubmed:volume
13
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
985-9
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2003
pubmed:articleTitle
Top-down modulation of lateral interactions in early vision: does attention affect integration of the whole or just perception of the parts?
pubmed:affiliation
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom. elliot.freeman@ucl.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't