Deciphering the functional circuitry underlying the effects of spatial attention on neural responses.

Our eyes are constantly bombarded by a multitude of visual stimuli, yet not all stimuli reach our awareness and stimuli at certain positions are processed with much greater detail than those at other locations. This capacity of enhanced visual perception at voluntarily chosen locations is called spatial attention. Given the limited information-processing capacity of the brain, spatial attention proves critical for survival and normal functioning. Directing attention to a particular spatial region influences the responses of neurons throughout the brain, resulting in an increased efficiency with which attended stimuli are processed by populations of neurons. However, the specific mechanisms by which attention modifies neural responses remain unknown. Using a multidisciplinary approach achieved by integration of behavioral, neurophysiological and mathematical techniques we will test whether so called normalizing mechanisms provide the machinery through which attention operate s on neural responses. Deciphering the neural mechanisms through which spatial attention acts, would have far-reaching consequences for understanding attention in particular and sensory processing in general.

Keywords:Visuele perceptie, Aandacht, Neurofysiologie

Disciplines:Other biological sciences, Scientific computing, Bioinformatics and computational biology, Public health care, Public health services, Neurosciences, Biological and physiological psychology, Cognitive science and intelligent systems, Developmental psychology and ageing, Animal biology, General biology