VISUAL ATTENTIVE PROCESSES

本研究的目的是调查 在几个阶段对感觉过程的焦点视觉注意 灵长类的皮层视觉系统。 研究计划 是比较物理刺激引起的神经活动 相同的测试刺激在不同的注意下呈现 神经生理和心理物理综合状况 调查事务所 主要目的是确定是否 注意力机制对神经系统施加动态控制， 视觉事件在初始视皮层的表征 地区 联合电生理和行为研究 将由重点关注的影响， 关于定向线段的视觉信息的处理 在皮层视觉过程的三个早期阶段（V1，V2， V3/V3A）。 将采用两种方法。 一是 比较神经元的响应特性， 视觉皮层区域的条件下，其中的轨迹， 焦点注意力是受控制的， 目标刺激或远离目标刺激。 第二 方法是比较响应特性和配置文件 在需要重点关注的情况下， 识别目标刺激，相比之下， 物理上相同的目标刺激 可以在没有重点关注的情况下识别。 这些目标是 以确定注意力对早期皮层的影响， 视觉传入输入的处理，以确定 这些变化，以确定在大脑皮层 处理发生的变化，并确定它们何时发生 在时间上相对于刺激事件。

The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of focal visual attention upon sensory processes at several stages of the cortical visual system in primates. The research plan is to compare the neural activity evoked by physically identical test stimuli presented under different attentional conditions in combined neurophysiological and psychophysical investigations. The major objective is to determine whether attentional mechanisms exert dynamic control over the neural representation of visual events in the initial visual cortical areas. Combined electrophysiological and behavioral investigations will be made of the influence of focal attention of the processing of visual information about oriented line segments in three early stages of cortical visual procesisng (V1, V2, and V3/V3A). Two approaches will be used. The first is to compare the response properties of neurons in the respective visual cortical areas under conditions in which the locus of focal attention is controlled and is directed either at the target stimulus or away from the target stimulus. The second approach is to compare the response properties and profiles under conditions in which focal attention is required to identify the target stimulus and, by contrast, under those conditions in which the physically indentical target stimulus can be identified without focal attention. The objectives are to determine the influence of attention upon the early cortical processing of visual afferent input, to determine the nature of the changes, to determine where in the chain of cortical processing the changes occur, and to determine when they occur in time relative to the stimulus event.