The profile of feature-based attention: A new framework

日常生活需要我们在一个包含了大脑无法同时处理的更多信息的环境中导航。使用注意力，我们可以处理与任务相关的信息，而忽略与任务无关的信息。这种类型的选择性注意的一个关键组成部分是基于特征信息。例如，当我们在购物中心跟踪我们的孩子时，我们可能会关注孩子衣服的颜色。然而，在这样做的时候，我们并不是完全不了解环境的其他方面。对特定特征的关注如何影响对相关和不相关特征的处理？经典的研究支持基于特征相似性的简单模型，而最近的工作已经证明了特征之间更复杂的关系。在本项目中，研究人员使用了一种跨学科的方法，整合了心理物理学，计算建模和神经成像的方法，以了解被称为“环绕抑制”的注意机制的认知和神经方面，其中注意目标附近的特征的处理被削弱。更好地理解这种类型的注意力机制将对人类使用视觉输入来指导行为的许多情况产生影响，例如教育，沟通和人为因素工程。该研究项目还将为研究生和本科生提供大脑和认知科学的跨学科培训机会。研究人员团队将进行行为和神经成像实验，以研究注意力的潜在机制。有三个相互关联的目标。首先，研究人员将研究简单特征的注意轮廓如何随着刺激情境和任务需求而变化。要绘制出的注意力配置文件，参与者被指示参加一个功能来执行目标检测任务，而目标功能是系统地变化。其次，研究人员将测量由两个特征的结合定义的视觉对象的注意轮廓，并检查其对任务要求的敏感性。在这些实验中，一般的假设是，注意轮廓可以灵活地调整刺激上下文和任务的要求，允许有效地选择任务相关的信息。在第三个目标中，研究人员将使用功能性磁共振成像来测量人类参与者参与特征注意力任务时的神经活动。 基于模型的神经成像分析将被用来区分两种可能的神经机制，可以引起注意诱导的周围抑制。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Daily life requires us to navigate an environment that contains much more information than the brain can process at once. Using attention, we can process information that is relevant to the task while ignoring information that is irrelevant to the task. One key component of this type of selective attention is based on feature information. For example, when keeping track of our child at the shopping mall we may focus on the color of the child’s clothing. However, in so doing, we are not completely unaware of other aspects of the environment. How does attention to a particular feature impact the processing of the relevant and irrelevant features? Classical studies have supported simple models based on feature similarity, while more recent work has demonstrated more complex relationships among the features. In the present project, the investigator uses a cross-disciplinary approach that integrates methods from psychophysics, computational modeling, and neuroimaging in order to understand the cognitive and neural aspects of an attentional mechanism called “surround suppression,” in which the processing of features near the attentional target is weakened. A better understanding of this type of attentional mechanism will have implications for many situations in which humans use visual input to guide behavior, such as education, communication, and human factors engineering. The research project will also provide interdisciplinary training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in brain and cognitive sciences.The investigator team will conduct behavioral and neuroimaging experiments to examine the mechanisms underlying the attentional profile. There are three interrelated objectives. First, the investigators will examine how the attentional profile for simple features changes with stimulus context and task demand. To map out the attentional profile, participants are instructed to attend to a feature to perform a target-detection task while the target feature is systematically varied. Second, the investigators will measure the attentional profile for visual objects defined by the conjunction of two features and examine its sensitivity to task demands. In these experiments, the general hypothesis is that the attentional profile can be flexibly adjusted based on stimulus context and task demand, allowing efficient selection of task-relevant information. In the third objective, the investigators will use functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity while human participants are engaged in the feature-attention task. Model-based neuroimaging analyses will be used to distinguish between two possible neural mechanisms that can cause attention-induced surround suppression.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.