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Selective gating of visual signals by microstimulation of frontal cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Tirin Moore

    (Princeton University)

  • Katherine M. Armstrong

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

Several decades of psychophysical and neurophysiological studies have established that visual signals are enhanced at the locus of attention1,2,3,4,5. What remains a mystery is the mechanism that initiates biases in the strength of visual representations6. Recent evidence argues that, during spatial attention, these biases reflect nascent saccadic eye movement commands7,8. We examined the functional interaction of saccade preparation and visual coding by electrically stimulating sites within the frontal eye fields (FEF) and measuring its effect on the activity of neurons in extrastriate visual cortex. Here we show that visual responses in area V4 could be enhanced after brief stimulation of retinotopically corresponding sites within the FEF using currents below that needed to evoke saccades. The magnitude of the enhancement depended on the effectiveness of receptive field stimuli as well as on the presence of competing stimuli outside the receptive field. Stimulation of non-corresponding FEF representations could suppress V4 responses. The results suggest that the gain of visual signals is modified according to the strength of spatially corresponding eye movement commands.

Suggested Citation

  • Tirin Moore & Katherine M. Armstrong, 2003. "Selective gating of visual signals by microstimulation of frontal cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 421(6921), pages 370-373, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:421:y:2003:i:6921:d:10.1038_nature01341
    DOI: 10.1038/nature01341
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    Cited by:

    1. J. L. Amengual & F. Di Bello & S. Ben Hadj Hassen & Suliann Ben Hamed, 2022. "Distractibility and impulsivity neural states are distinct from selective attention and modulate the implementation of spatial attention," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Nina M. Hanning & Antonio Fernández & Marisa Carrasco, 2023. "Dissociable roles of human frontal eye fields and early visual cortex in presaccadic attention," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Santarnecchi, Emiliano & Emmendorfer, Alexandra & Pascual-Leone, Alvaro, 2017. "Dissecting the parieto-frontal correlates of fluid intelligence: A comprehensive ALE meta-analysis study," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 9-28.
    4. Sebastian Bitzer & Jelle Bruineberg & Stefan J Kiebel, 2015. "A Bayesian Attractor Model for Perceptual Decision Making," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-35, August.
    5. Zhaoran Zhang & Edward Zagha, 2023. "Motor cortex gates distractor stimulus encoding in sensory cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Roxana Zeraati & Yan-Liang Shi & Nicholas A. Steinmetz & Marc A. Gieselmann & Alexander Thiele & Tirin Moore & Anna Levina & Tatiana A. Engel, 2023. "Intrinsic timescales in the visual cortex change with selective attention and reflect spatial connectivity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Thomas Miconi & Rufin VanRullen, 2016. "A Feedback Model of Attention Explains the Diverse Effects of Attention on Neural Firing Rates and Receptive Field Structure," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Jacob A. Westerberg & Jeffrey D. Schall & Geoffrey F. Woodman & Alexander Maier, 2023. "Feedforward attentional selection in sensory cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Yujie Wu & Tian Wang & Tingting Zhou & Yang Li & Yi Yang & Weifeng Dai & Yange Zhang & Chuanliang Han & Dajun Xing, 2022. "V1-bypassing suppression leads to direction-specific microsaccade modulation in visual coding and perception," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    10. Robert G. Alexander & Stephen L. Macknik & Susana Martinez-Conde, 2022. "What the Neuroscience and Psychology of Magic Reveal about Misinformation," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, September.
    11. Tal Seidel Malkinson & Dimitri J. Bayle & Brigitte C. Kaufmann & Jianghao Liu & Alexia Bourgeois & Katia Lehongre & Sara Fernandez-Vidal & Vincent Navarro & Virginie Lambrecq & Claude Adam & Daniel S., 2024. "Intracortical recordings reveal vision-to-action cortical gradients driving human exogenous attention," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    12. Baiwei Liu & Anna C. Nobre & Freek van Ede, 2022. "Functional but not obligatory link between microsaccades and neural modulation by covert spatial attention," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

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