CRCNS-Attentional Selection and Perceptual Organization

CRCNS-注意选择和知觉组织

• 批准号: 7120038
• 负责人: ERNST NIEBUR
• 金额: $ 32.18万
• 依托单位: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7120038
• 关键词: Macaca mulatta; attention; brain electrical activity; computer simulation; form /pattern perception; mathematical model; neural information processing; neuropsychological tests; psychological concentration; visual cortex; visual perception; Macaca mulatta; attention; brain electrical activity; computer simulation; form /pattern perception; mathematical model; neural information processing; neuropsychological tests; psychological concentration; visual cortex; visual perception

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An important aspect of visual perception is figure-ground segregation. Because the eyes register only 2D images of a 3D world, the visual system needs to detect the contours of objects and assign them correctly to the object side, rather than to the background side. Our recent studies indicate that the assignment of "border ownership" occurs in cortical area V2. In a so-far separate line of work, we have studied selective attention, which is the mechanism by which the nervous system selects the most relevant information at any time. We have found a strong correlation between the attentional state and the temporal structure of neural responses, viz. synchrony between neural spike trains. In the proposed work, we suggest that attention may be viewed as a mechanism that works at a level of intermediate vision and perceptual organization. Specifically, we propose that the neural substrate that is observed to generate the border ownership coding signals may also provide 'handles' for attentional selection. Central processes of selective attention may then rely on the visual data structure provided by this area. Our preliminary results indicate that attentional control may be exerted by employing synchrony structures akin to those seen in our previous work. We will study this hypothesis both by computational modeling and by recording in awake behaving monkeys. The hypothesis generates clear predictions, of which some have been confirmed in preliminary studies and others are to be tested in the proposed work. Understanding the interplay between selective attention and perceptual organization will contribute significantly to understanding the vision process in particular, and the principles of neural information processing in general. Beyond the theoretical interest, understanding the function of the visual cortex is an important goal in view of clinical applications because large parts of the brain are devoted to visual processing, and many neurological diseases are accompanied by central visual disorders.

描述（由申请人提供）：视觉感知的一个重要方面是图形隔离。由于眼睛仅注册3D世界的2D图像，因此视觉系统需要检测对象的轮廓并将其正确分配给对象侧而不是背景侧。我们最近的研究表明，“边境所有权”的分配发生在皮质区域V2中。在So-Far单独的工作中，我们研究了选择性关注，这是神经系统随时选择最相关信息的机制。我们发现，注意状态与神经反应的时间结构之间存在很强的相关性，即。神经尖峰火车之间的同步。在拟议的工作中，我们建议将注意力视为在中间视力和感知组织中起作用的机制。具体而言，我们建议观察到生成边界所有权编码信号的神经基板也可能为注意选择提供“手柄”。然后，选择性关注的中心过程可以依靠该区域提供的视觉数据结构。我们的初步结果表明，通过使用类似于以前工作的同步结构，可以通过使用同步结构来控制注意力控制。我们将通过计算建模和记录醒来的猴子来研究这一假设。该假设产生了明确的预测，其中一些预测已在初步研究中得到证实，而另一些则将在拟议的工作中进行测试。 了解选择性关注和感知组织之间的相互作用将有助于特别理解视力过程，以及一般的神经信息处理原理。除了理论上的兴趣之外，了解视觉皮层的功能是临床应用的重要目标，因为大脑的大部分都致力于视觉处理，并且许多神经系统疾病都伴有中心视觉疾病。