Cortical and subcortical control of visual attention

描述（由申请人提供）：注意力对视觉处理有着深远的影响，使我们能够在视觉环境中有策略地选择、过滤和优先处理大量信息。这个项目的长期目标是了解大脑如何将注意力转移到视觉刺激上。注意力可以通过两种方式转移：一种是被显著的刺激反射性地“捕获”，另一种是通过自上而下的机制自动地集中在感兴趣的选定对象上。本研究旨在探讨上级丘（SC）和额眼场（FEF）在自反性和自上而下注意转移中的作用。SC和FEF传统上被认为是参与眼球运动的区域。最近的证据表明，在没有明显眼球运动的情况下，这些大脑区域在控制注意力转移方面也可能很重要，但它们对注意力的具体贡献尚不清楚。基于解剖学和它们在眼球运动中的作用，我们假设SC参与控制反射性注意转移，FEF参与自上而下的转移。我们将测试这一假设，首先，通过确定是否记录在SC和FEF的神经信号是适当的控制反射或自上而下的注意力转移。其次，我们将确定这些领域是否发挥必要的功能作用，通过检查的影响，暂时失活的小区域的SC或FEF的自反性和自上而下的注意力转移。最后，注意力可以产生不同类型的视觉灵敏度的改善，我们将调查是否这些不同的影响，注意知觉分别从事SC和FEF。相关性：注意力缺陷会严重损害视觉和认知功能，干扰日常生活活动，并与更大的事故和伤害风险有关。我们希望从这个项目中获得的知识将有助于更好地了解人类疾病的注意力表现的原因，如单侧视觉忽视，眼动失用症，多动症和精神分裂症。了解控制注意力的基本神经机制可能为诊断、治疗或康复患有注意力障碍的人群提供新的途径。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attention has profound effects on visual processing, allowing us to strategically select, filter, and prioritize the vast amount of information in the visual environment. The long-term goal of this project is to understand how the brain shifts attention to visual stimuli. Attention can be shifted in two modes: it can be reflexively "captured" by a salient stimulus, or voluntarily focused by top-down mechanisms on a selected object of interest. This project investigates the roles of the superior colliculus (SC) and frontal eye field (FEF) in reflexive and top-down attention shifts. The SC and FEF are traditionally considered to be areas involved in eye movements. Recent evidence indicates that these brain areas may also be important in controlling shifts of attention in the absence of overt eye movements, but their specific contributions to attention are unclear. Based on anatomy and on their roles in eye movements, we hypothesize that the SC is involved in controlling reflexive attention shifts and the FEF is involved in top-down shifts. We will test this hypothesis, first, by determining whether neural signals recorded in the SC and FEF are appropriate for controlling reflexive or top-down attention shifts. Second, we will ascertain whether these areas play necessary functional roles in attention by examining the impact of temporarily inactivating small regions of either the SC or FEF on reflexive and top-down attention shifts. Finally, attention can produce different types of improvements in visual sensitivity, and we will investigate whether these different effects of attention on perception are separately engaged by the SC and FEF. Relevance: Deficits in attention can seriously impair visual and cognitive functioning, interfere with activities of daily life, and have been associated with greater risk of accident and injury. We expect that the knowledge gained from this project will contribute to a better understanding of the causes of attentional manifestations of human disorders such as unilateral visual neglect, oculomotor apraxia, ADHD, and schizophrenia. Gaining an understanding of the basic neural mechanisms that control attention may provide new avenues for diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation of populations suffering from attentional disorders.