Cortical and subcortical control of visual attention

描述（由申请人提供）：注意力对视觉处理具有深远的影响，使我们能够战略性地选择、过滤和优先考虑视觉环境中的大量信息。该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模式转移：它可以通过显着的刺激反射性地“捕获”，或者通过自上而下的机制自愿集中在选定的感兴趣的对象上。该项目研究了上丘（SC）和额叶视野（FEF）在反射性和自上而下的注意力转移中的作用。 SC 和 FEF 传统上被认为是涉及眼球运动的区域。最近的证据表明，这些大脑区域在没有明显眼球运动的情况下控制注意力转移也可能很重要，但它们对注意力的具体贡献尚不清楚。根据解剖学及其在眼球运动中的作用，我们假设 SC 参与控制反射性注意力转移，FEF 参与自上而下的转移。我们将首先通过确定 SC 和 FEF 中记录的神经信号是否适合控制反射性或自上而下的注意力转移来检验这一假设。其次，我们将通过检查 SC 或 FEF 的小区域暂时失活对反射性和自上而下的注意力转移的影响来确定这些区域是否在注意力中发挥必要的功能作用。最后，注意力可以对视觉敏感度产生不同类型的改善，我们将研究注意力对感知的这些不同影响是否分别由 SC 和 FEF 参与。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相关。我们期望从该项目中获得的知识将有助于更好地理解人类疾病注意力表现的原因，例如单侧视觉忽视、动眼神经失用症、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患有注意力障碍的人群提供诊断、治疗或康复的新途径。

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.