Attention to features precedes attention to locations in visual search: Evidence from electromagnetic brain responses in humans

被引:156
作者
Hopf, JM
Boelmans, K
Schoenfeld, MA
Luck, SJ
Heinze, HJ
机构
[1] Otto Von Guericke Univ, Dept Neurol 2, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany
[2] Leibniz Inst Neurobiol, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany
[3] Univ Iowa, Dept Psychol, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA
关键词
attention; visual; search; featural; spatial; human;
D O I
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3564-03.2004
中图分类号
Q189 [神经科学];
学科分类号
071006 ;
摘要
Single-unit recordings in macaque extrastriate cortex have shown that attentional selection of nonspatial features can operate in a location-independent manner. Here, we investigated analogous neural correlates at the neural population level in human observers by using simultaneous event-related potential (ERP) and event-related magnetic field (ERMF) recordings. The goals were to determine ( 1) whether task-relevant features are selected before attention is allocated to the location of the target, and ( 2) whether this selection reflects the locations of the relevant features. A visual search task was used in which the spatial distribution of nontarget items with attended feature values was varied independently of the location of the target. The presence of task-relevant features in a given location led to a change in ERP/ERMF activity beginning similar to140 msec after stimulus onset, with a neural origin in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex. This effect was independent of the location of the actual target. This effect was followed by lateralized activity reflecting the allocation of attention to the location of the target (the well known N2pc component), which began at similar to170 msec poststimulus. Current source localization indicated that the allocation of attention to the location of the target originated in more anterior regions of occipito-temporal cortex anterior than the feature-related effects. These findings suggest that target detection in visual search begins with the detection of task-relevant features, which then allows spatial attention to be allocated to the location of a likely target, which in turn allows the target to be positively identified.
引用
收藏
页码:1822 / 1832
页数:11
相关论文
共 53 条
[1]   NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS AND HYPOTHYROIDISM IN A NEWBORN-INFANT - TREATMENT WITH INTRAVENOUS L-THYROXINE [J].
AMER, T ;
DAVID, R ;
OBERFIELD, SE .
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PERINATOLOGY, 1994, 11 (01) :30-32
[2]   Selective attention to the color and direction of moving stimuli: Electrophysiological correlates of hierarchical feature selection [J].
AnlloVento, L ;
Hillyard, SA .
PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS, 1996, 58 (02) :191-206
[3]   Attentional set modulates visual areas: an event-related potential study of attentional capture [J].
Arnott, SR ;
Pratt, J ;
Shore, DI ;
Alain, C .
COGNITIVE BRAIN RESEARCH, 2001, 12 (03) :383-395
[4]   Visual selection mediated by location: Feature-based selection of noncontiguous locations [J].
Bichot, NP ;
Cave, KR ;
Pashler, H .
PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS, 1999, 61 (03) :403-423
[5]   A physiological correlate of the 'spotlight' of visual attention [J].
Brefczynski, JA ;
DeYoe, EA .
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE, 1999, 2 (04) :370-374
[6]   The FeatureGate model of visual selection [J].
Cave, KR .
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH-PSYCHOLOGISCHE FORSCHUNG, 1999, 62 (2-3) :182-194
[7]   A NEURAL BASIS FOR VISUAL-SEARCH IN INFERIOR TEMPORAL CORTEX [J].
CHELAZZI, L ;
MILLER, EK ;
DUNCAN, J ;
DESIMONE, R .
NATURE, 1993, 363 (6427) :345-347
[8]   Responses of neurons in macaque area V4 during memory-guided visual search [J].
Chelazzi, L ;
Miller, EK ;
Duncan, J ;
Desimone, R .
CEREBRAL CORTEX, 2001, 11 (08) :761-772
[9]   ILLUSORY CONJUNCTIONS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE FOCUS OF ATTENTION [J].
COHEN, A ;
IVRY, R .
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE, 1989, 15 (04) :650-663
[10]  
Conner CE, 1997, J NEUROSCI, V17, P3201