scholarly journals Interacting rhythms enhance sensitivity of target detection in a fronto-parietal computational model of visual attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Aussel ◽  
Ian C. Fiebelkorn ◽  
Sabine Kastner ◽  
Nancy J. Kopell ◽  
Benjamin R. Pittman-Polletta
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Computational Model ◽  
Target Detection ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Lateral Intraparietal Cortex ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
Eye Field

AbstractEven during sustained attention, enhanced processing of attended stimuli waxes and wanes rhythmically, with periods of enhanced and relatively diminished visual processing (and hit rates) alternating at 4 or 8 Hz in a sustained visual attention task. These alternating attentional states occur alongside alternating dynamical states, in which lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), the frontal eye field (FEF), and the mediodorsal pulvinar exhibit different activity and connectivity at α, β, and γ frequencies - rhythms associated with visual processing, working memory, and motor suppression. To assess whether and how these multiple interacting rhythms contribute to periodicity in attention, we propose a detailed computational model of FEF and LIP that reproduces the rhythmic dynamics and behavioral consequences of observed attentional states, when driven by θ-rhythmic inputs simulating experimentally-observed pulvinar activity. This model reveals that the frequencies and mechanisms of the observed rhythms optimize sensitivity in visual target detection while maintaining functional flexibility.

scholarly journals Altered brain network function during attention-modulated visual processing in multiple sclerosis

2020 ◽  
pp. 135245852095836
Author(s):  
Dániel Veréb ◽  
Eszter Tóth ◽  
Bence Bozsik ◽  
András Király ◽  
Nikoletta Szabó ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Cognitive Disability ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Default Mode

Background: Multiple sclerosis may damage cognitive performance in several domains, including attention. Although attention network deficits were described during rest, studies that investigate their function during task performance are scarce. Objective: To investigate connectivity within and between task-related networks in multiple sclerosis during a visual attention task as a function of cognitive performance. Methods: A total of 23 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients and 29 healthy controls underwent task-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans using a visual attention paradigm on a 3T scanner. Scans were analysed using tensor-independent component analysis (TICA). Functional connectivity was calculated within and between components. We assessed cognitive function with the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) battery. Results: TICA extracted components related to visual processing, attention, executive function and the default-mode network. Subject scores of visual/attention-related and executive components were greater in healthy controls ( p < 0.032, p < 0.023). Connectivity between visual/attention-related and default-mode components was higher in patients ( p < 0.043), correlating with Brief Visuospatial Memory Test–Revised (BVMT-R) scores ( R = −0.48, p < 0.036). Patients showed reduced connectivity between the right intraparietal sulcus (rIPS) and frontal eye field (rFEF), and bilateral frontal eye fields ( p < 0.012, p < 0.003). Reduced rIPS-rFEF connectivity came with lower Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT)/BVMT-R scores in patients ( R = 0.53, p < 0.02, R = 0.46, p < 0.049). Conclusion: Attention-related networks show altered connectivity during task performance in RRMS patients, scaling with cognitive disability.

Frontal eye field: A cortical salience map

1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk G. Thompson ◽  
Narcisse P. Bichot
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Frontal Eye Fields ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Salience Map ◽  
Saccade Generation

The concept of a salience map has become important for the development of theories of visual attention and saccade generation. Recent studies have shown that the frontal eye fields have all of the characteristics of a salience map.

scholarly journals Two subdivisions of macaque LIP process visual-oculomotor information differently

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (41) ◽  
pp. E6263-E6270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mo Chen ◽  
Bing Li ◽  
Jing Guang ◽  
Linyu Wei ◽  
Si Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Express Saccades ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Lateral Intraparietal Cortex ◽  
Persistent Memory ◽  
Deep Layers ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Saccade Task

Although the cerebral cortex is thought to be composed of functionally distinct areas, the actual parcellation of area and assignment of function are still highly controversial. An example is the much-studied lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP). Despite the general agreement that LIP plays an important role in visual-oculomotor transformation, it remains unclear whether the area is primary sensory- or motor-related (the attention-intention debate). Although LIP has been considered as a functionally unitary area, its dorsal (LIPd) and ventral (LIPv) parts differ in local morphology and long-distance connectivity. In particular, LIPv has much stronger connections with two oculomotor centers, the frontal eye field and the deep layers of the superior colliculus, than does LIPd. Such anatomical distinctions imply that compared with LIPd, LIPv might be more involved in oculomotor processing. We tested this hypothesis physiologically with a memory saccade task and a gap saccade task. We found that LIP neurons with persistent memory activities in memory saccade are primarily provoked either by visual stimulation (vision-related) or by both visual and saccadic events (vision-saccade–related) in gap saccade. The distribution changes from predominantly vision-related to predominantly vision-saccade–related as the recording depth increases along the dorsal-ventral dimension. Consistently, the simultaneously recorded local field potential also changes from visual evoked to saccade evoked. Finally, local injection of muscimol (GABA agonist) in LIPv, but not in LIPd, dramatically decreases the proportion of express saccades. With these results, we conclude that LIPd and LIPv are more involved in visual and visual-saccadic processing, respectively.

scholarly journals Neural Correlates of Correct and Errant Attentional Selection Revealed Through N2pc and Frontal Eye Field Activity

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 2433-2441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Heitz ◽  
Jeremiah Y. Cohen ◽  
Geoffrey F. Woodman ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Extrastriate Cortex ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Eye Field

The goal of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the physiological basis of errors of visual search. Previous research has shown that search errors occur when visual neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF) treat distractors as if they were targets. We replicated this finding during an inefficient form search and extended it by measuring simultaneously a macaque homologue of an event-related potential indexing the allocation of covert attention known as the m-N2pc. Based on recent work, we expected errors of selection in FEF to propagate to areas of extrastriate cortex responsible for allocating attention and implicated in the generation of the m-N2pc. Consistent with this prediction, we discovered that when FEF neurons selected a distractor instead of the search target, the m-N2pc shifted in the same, incorrect direction prior to the erroneous saccade. This suggests that such errors are due to a systematic misorienting of attention from the initial stages of visual processing. Our analyses also revealed distinct neural correlates of false alarms and guesses. These results demonstrate that errant gaze shifts during visual search arise from errant attentional processing.

Visual-Tactile Bottom-Up and Top-Down Attention

2013 ◽  
pp. 183-191
Author(s):  
Qiong Wu ◽  
Chunlin Li ◽  
Satoshi Takahashi ◽  
Jinglong Wu
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Superior Parietal Lobule ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Tactile Attention ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Processing Mechanism

In recent years, there have been many studies on attention. These studies have found that there are two distinct kinds of neural networks employed for visual attention and tactile attention, respectively. This review summarizes the processing mechanism of these attention-related brain networks. One type is the top-down attention related brain structure, which includes the IPs/SPL (intraparietal sulcus/superior parietal lobule)-FEF (frontal eye field). The other is the bottom-up attention related brain structure, which includes the TPJ (temporoparietal junction)-VFC (ventral frontal cortex). Regarding research into tactile attention, in conclusion, the authors found that tactile attention had a similar neural network to that of visual attention in that there was top-down attention to the relevant IPs-FEF and bottom-up attention to the relevant TPJ-VFC.

scholarly journals Cooperation and Competition among Frontal Eye Field Neurons during Visual Target Selection

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 3227-3238 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Y. Cohen ◽  
E. A. Crowder ◽  
R. P. Heitz ◽  
C. R. Subraveti ◽  
K. G. Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Target ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Cooperation And Competition ◽  
Eye Field

Visual Processing in the Macaque Frontal Eye Field

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Sato ◽  
Kirk Thompson ◽  
Jeffrey Schall ◽  
Aditya Murthy ◽  
Narcisse Bichot
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Eye Field

Rostrocaudal Distinction of the Dorsal Premotor Area Based on Oculomotor Involvement

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 1764-1769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naotaka Fujii ◽  
Hajime Mushiake ◽  
Jun Tanji
Keyword(s):  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Motor Tasks ◽  
Caudal Part ◽  
Supplementary Eye Field ◽  
Functional Differences ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Rostral Part

To investigate functional differences between the rostral and caudal parts of the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), we first examined the effects of intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) while monkeys were performing oculomotor and limb motor tasks or while they were at rest. We found that saccades were evoked from the rostral part (PMdr) whereas ICMS in the caudal part (PMdc) predominantly produced forelimb or body movements. Subsequently, we examined neuronal activity in relation to the performance of visually cued and memorized saccades while monkeys reached an arm toward a visual target. We found that roughly equal numbers of PMdr neurons were active during performance of the oculomotor and limb motor tasks. In contrast, the majority of PMdc neurons were related preferentially to arm movements and not to saccades. In the subsequent analysis, we found that the oculomotor effects evoked in the PMdr differ from the effects evoked in either the frontal eye field (FEF) or supplementary eye field (SEF). These findings suggest that the PMdr is involved in oculomotor as well as limb motor behavior. However, the oculomotor involvement of the PMdr seems to have a functional aspect different from that operating in the FEF and SEF.

scholarly journals Timing of Target Discrimination in Human Frontal Eye Fields

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1060-1067 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacinta O'Shea ◽  
Neil G. Muggleton ◽  
Alan Cowey ◽  
Vincent Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Correct Rejection ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Target Discrimination ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
The Right

Frontal eye field (FEF) neurons discharge in response to behaviorally relevant stimuli that are potential targets for saccades. Distinct visual and motor processes have been dissociated in the FEF of macaque monkeys, but little is known about the visual processing capacity of FEF in humans. We used double-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation [(d)TMS] to investigate the timing of target discrimination during visual conjunction search. We applied dual TMS pulses separated by 40 msec over the right FEF and vertex. These were applied in five timing conditions to sample separate time windows within the first 200 msec of visual processing. (d)TMS impaired search performance, reflected in reduced d′ scores. This effect was limited to a time window between 40 and 80 msec after search array onset. These parameters correspond with single-cell activity in FEF that predicts monkeys' behavioral reports on hit, miss, false alarm, and correct rejection trials. Our findings demonstrate a crucial early role for human FEF in visual target discrimination that is independent of saccade programming.

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