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The representation of visual salience in monkey parietal cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Jacqueline P. Gottlieb

    (Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute)

  • Makoto Kusunoki

    (Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute)

  • Michael E. Goldberg

    (Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute
    Georgetown University School of Medicine)

Abstract

When natural scenes are viewed, a multitude of objects that are stable in their environments are brought in and out of view by eye movements. The posterior parietal cortex is crucial for the analysis of space, visual attention and movement1. Neurons in one of its subdivisions, the lateral intraparietal area (LIP), have visual responses to stimuli appearing abruptly at particular retinal locations (their receptive fields)2. We have tested the responses of LIP neurons to stimuli that entered their receptive field by saccades. Neurons had little or no response to stimuli brought into their receptive field by saccades, unless the stimuli were behaviourally significant. We established behavioural significance in two ways: either by making a stable stimulus task-relevant, or by taking advantage of the attentional attraction of an abruptly appearing stimulus. Our results show that under ordinary circumstances the entire visual world is only weakly represented in LIP. The visual representation in LIP is sparse, with only the mostsalient or behaviourally relevant objects being strongly represented.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacqueline P. Gottlieb & Makoto Kusunoki & Michael E. Goldberg, 1998. "The representation of visual salience in monkey parietal cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 391(6666), pages 481-484, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:391:y:1998:i:6666:d:10.1038_35135
    DOI: 10.1038/35135
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    Cited by:

    1. Li Zhaoping & Li Zhe, 2015. "Primary Visual Cortex as a Saliency Map: A Parameter-Free Prediction and Its Test by Behavioral Data," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-39, October.
    2. Janina Klautke & Celia Foster & W. Pieter Medendorp & Tobias Heed, 2023. "Dynamic spatial coding in parietal cortex mediates tactile-motor transformation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Yvonne Li & Nabil Daddaoua & Mattias Horan & Nicholas C. Foley & Jacqueline Gottlieb, 2022. "Uncertainty modulates visual maps during noninstrumental information demand," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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