VISUAL PROCESSING IN CEREBRAL CORTEX

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 注意力是影响感觉和认知表现的关键因素。控制和引导注意力的问题可能会导致严重的表现和行为缺陷。关于注意力背后的神经机制的更完整的信息对于理解注意力如何促进感知和指导行为将是重要的。 我们的实验将通过测试注意调节依赖于调节感觉反应正常化的相同神经元回路的假设来扩展我们对注意力的神经元基础的理解。反应正常化是一种成熟的机制，它根据一大群具有相似反应特性的神经元的整体活动来调整感觉信号。我们认为，视觉大脑皮层中的注意调制通过这种归一化机制起作用，因此当归一化较弱或被消除时，注意调制不会发生。这些实验将对注意力依赖于正常化机制的假设进行关键检验。通过这样做，它们有可能极大地扩展我们对构成注意力的神经机制的理解。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Attention is a critical factor in sensory and cognitive performance. Problems in controlling and directing attention can lead to serious deficits in performance and behavior. More complete information about the neural mechanisms underlying attention will be important for understanding how it facilitates perception and guides behaviors. Our experiments will extend our understanding of the neuronal basis of attention by testing the hypothesis that attentional modulation depends on the same neuronal circuits that mediate sensory response normalization. Response normalization is a well-established mechanism that adjusts sensory signals based on the overall activity in a large group of neurons with similar response properties. We propose that attentional modulations in visual cerebral cortex act through this normalization mechanism, such that attentional modulation cannot occur in conditions when normalization is weak or eliminated. These experiments will provide a critical test of the hypothesis that attention depends on normalization mechanisms. In doing so they have the potential of greatly extending our understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie attention.