WWW.JNEUROSCI.ORG
-
The Journal of Neuroscience Introducing ALZET?ew Model 2006 Pump
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     
-


HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP
The Journal of Neuroscience, January 4, 2006, 26(1):138-142; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2784-05.2006

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental data
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Khayat, P. S.
Right arrow Articles by Roelfsema, P. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Khayat, P. S.
Right arrow Articles by Roelfsema, P. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Attention Lights Up New Object Representations before the Old Ones Fade Away

Paul S. Khayat,1,3 Henk Spekreijse,1 and Pieter R. Roelfsema1,2

1Department of Vision and Cognition, The Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2Department of Experimental Neurophysiology, Centre for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Free University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and 3Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1Y6

We investigated how attention shifts from one object to another by recording neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex. Monkeys performed a contour-grouping task in which they had to select a target curve and ignore a distractor curve. Some trials required a shift of attention, because the target and distractor curves were switched during the course of the trial. We monitored the dynamics of this attention shift in area V1, in which neuronal responses evoked by the target curve are stronger than those evoked by the distractor. The reallocation of attention was associated with a rapid and strong enhancement of responses to the newly attended curve, followed, after ~60 ms, by a weaker suppression of responses to the curve from which attention was removed. We conclude that attention can be rapidly allocated to a new object before it disengages from the previously attended one.

Key words: attention shifts; contour grouping; curve tracing; primary visual cortex; vision; macaque monkey

Received Dec 13, 2004; revised November 3, 2005; accepted November 6, 2005.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Neurophysiol.Home page
C. I. Moore and R. Cao
The Hemo-Neural Hypothesis: On The Role of Blood Flow in Information Processing
J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2008; 99(5): 2035 - 2047.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
L. Busse and S. Katzner
The Time Course of Shifting Visual Attention
J. Neurosci., April 12, 2006; 26(15): 3885 - 3886.
[Full Text] [PDF]


-

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help
-
Copyright 2008 by Society for Neuroscience ONLINE ISSN: 1529-2401
-