Attention to Surfaces Modulates Motion Processing in Extrastriate Area MT

In the visual system, early atomized representations are grouped into higher-level entities through processes of perceptual organization. Here we present neurophysiological evidence that a representation of a simple object, a surface defined by color and motion, can be the unit of attentional select...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2007-05, Vol.54 (4), p.639-651
Main Authors: Wannig, Aurel, Rodríguez, Valia, Freiwald, Winrich A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action Potentials - physiology
Animals
Attention - physiology
Behavior, Animal
Haplorhini
Motion
Motion Perception - physiology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Photic Stimulation - methods
Predictive Value of Tests
Reaction Time - physiology
Rotation
Saccades - physiology
SYSBIO
SYSNEURO
Time Factors
Visual Cortex - anatomy & histology
Visual Cortex - cytology
Visual Cortex - physiology
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Summary:In the visual system, early atomized representations are grouped into higher-level entities through processes of perceptual organization. Here we present neurophysiological evidence that a representation of a simple object, a surface defined by color and motion, can be the unit of attentional selection at an early stage of visual processing. Monkeys were cued by the color of a fixation spot to attend to one of two transparent random-dot surfaces, one red and one green, which occupied the same region of space. Motion of the attended surface drove neurons in the middle temporal (MT) visual area more strongly than physically identical motion of the nonattended surface, even though both occurred within the spotlight of attention. Surface-based effects of attention persisted even without differential surface coloring, but attentional modulation was stronger with color. These results show that attention can select surface representations to modulate visual processing as early as cortical area MT.
ISSN:0896-6273
1097-4199
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2007.05.001