RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Parietal Stimulation Decouples Spatial and Feature-Based Attention
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 11106
OP 11110
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3591-08.2008
VO 28
IS 44
A1 Bertram Schenkluhn
A1 Christian C. Ruff
A1 Klaartje Heinen
A1 Christopher D. Chambers
YR 2008
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/44/11106.abstract
AB Everyday visual scenes contain a vast quantity of information, only a fraction of which can guide our behavior. Properties such as the location, color and orientation of stimuli help us extract relevant information from complex scenes (Treisman and Gelade, 1980; Livingstone and Hubel, 1987). But how does the brain coordinate the selection of such different stimulus characteristics? Neuroimaging studies have revealed significant regions of overlapping activity in frontoparietal cortex during attention to locations and features, suggesting a global component to visual selection (Vandenberghe et al., 2001; Corbetta and Shulman, 2002; Giesbrecht et al., 2003; Slagter et al., 2007). At the same time, the neural consequences of spatial and feature-based attention differ markedly in early visual areas (Treue and Martinez-Trujillo, 2007), implying that selection may rely on more specific top-down processes. Here we probed the balance between specialized and generalized control by interrupting preparatory attention in the human parietal cortex with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We found that stimulation of the supramarginal gyrus (SMG) impaired spatial attention only, whereas TMS of the anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS) disrupted spatial and feature-based attention. The selection of different stimulus characteristics is thus mediated by distinct top-down mechanisms, which can be decoupled by cortical interference.