Abstract
The content of visual experience depends on how selective attention is distributed in the visual field. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans to test whether feature-based attention can globally influence visual cortical responses to stimuli outside the attended location. Attention to a stimulus feature (color or direction of motion) increased the response of cortical visual areas to a spatially distant, ignored stimulus that shared the same feature.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Posner, M.I., Snyder, C.R. & Davidson, B.J. J. Exp. Psychol. 109, 160–174 (1980).
Desimone, R. & Duncan, J. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 18, 193–222 (1995).
Treue, S. & Martinez Trujillo, J.C. Nature 399, 575–579 (1999).
McAdams, C.J. & Maunsell, J.H. J. Neurophysiol. 83, 1751–1755 (2000).
Watson, J.D. et al. Cereb. Cortex 3, 79–94 (1993).
Engel, S.A., Glover, G.H. & Wandell, B.A. Cereb. Cortex 7, 181–192 (1997).
Sereno, M.I., McDonald, C.T. & Allman, J.M. Cereb. Cortex 4, 601–620 (1994).
Heeger, D.J., Boynton, G.M., Demb, J.B., Seidemann, E. & Newsome, W.T. J. Neurosci. 19, 7162–7174 (1999).
Lee, D.K., Koch, C. & Braun, J. Percept. Psychophys. 61, 1241–1255 (1999).
Vandenberghe, R. et al. J. Neurosci. 17, 3739–3750 (1997).
Duffy, C.J. & Wurtz, R.H. J. Neurophysiol. 65, 1329–1345 (1991).
Tootell, R.B. & Hadjikhani, N. Cereb. Cortex 11, 298–311 (2001).
McAdams, C.J. & Maunsell, J.H.R. J. Neurosci. 19, 431–441 (1999).
Gandhi, S.P., Heeger, D.J. & Boynton, G.M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3314–3319 (1999).
Martinez, A. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 2, 364–369 (1999).
Acknowledgements
Supported by the National Institutes of Health (EY12925) and the National Science Foundation. We thank R.O. Duncan, G. Stoner, J. Reynolds and I. Fine for comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Saenz, M., Buracas, G. & Boynton, G. Global effects of feature-based attention in human visual cortex. Nat Neurosci 5, 631–632 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn876
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn876
- Springer Nature America, Inc.
This article is cited by
-
Attention to visual motion suppresses neuronal and behavioral sensitivity in nearby feature space
BMC Biology (2022)
-
Priority coding in the visual system
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2022)
-
Attention expedites target selection by prioritizing the neural processing of distractor features
Communications Biology (2021)
-
Decision-related feedback in visual cortex lacks spatial selectivity
Nature Communications (2021)
-
Task-specific modulation of PFC activity for matching-rule governed decision-making
Brain Structure and Function (2021)