Modeling inhibition of return as short-term depression of early sensory input to the superior colliculus

Vision Res. 2011 May 11;51(9):987-96. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2011.02.013. Epub 2011 Feb 24.

Abstract

Inhibition of return (IOR) is an orienting phenomenon characterized by slower behavioral responses to spatially cued, relative to uncued targets, when the cue-target onset asynchronies (CTOAs) are long enough that cue-elicited attentional capture has dispersed. Here, we implement a short-term depression (STD) account of IOR within a neuroscientifically based dynamic neural field model (DNF) of the superior colliculus (SC). In addition to the prototypical findings in the cue-target paradigm (i.e., the biphasic pattern of behavioral enhancement at short CTOAs and behavioral costs at long CTOAs), a variety of findings in the literature are generated with this model, including IOR in averaging saccades and the co-existence of IOR and endogenous orienting at the same location. Many findings that cannot be accommodated by this model could be accounted for by incorporating cortical contributions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attention / physiology*
  • Cues
  • Functional Laterality / physiology
  • Humans
  • Inhibition, Psychological*
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Saccades / physiology
  • Space Perception / physiology
  • Superior Colliculi / physiology*