RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Attention to Memory and the Environment: Functional Specialization and Dynamic Competition in Human Posterior Parietal Cortex
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 8445
OP 8456
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4719-09.2010
VO 30
IS 25
A1 Carlo Sestieri
A1 Gordon L. Shulman
A1 Maurizio Corbetta
YR 2010
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/30/25/8445.abstract
AB Posterior parietal cortex has been traditionally associated with perceptual attention and sensory-motor processing, but recent studies also indicate a potential role in episodic memory retrieval. Here, we developed a new paradigm to isolate top-down attention-related activity directed to either memory or perceptual information. We demonstrated a robust topographic separation in human posterior parietal cortex associated with searching for task-relevant information in episodic memory or in the environment. Control analyses confirmed that this difference was not dependent on differences in sensory stimulation or eye movements across tasks. Notably, we observed in memory- and perception-related regions a mechanism of reciprocal dynamic competition that was related to behavioral performance. These results provide the first evidence for a double dissociation between parietal networks involved in top-down attention to memory and the environment and support the idea of neural competition between perception and memory.