Differential Neuronal Representation of Spatial Attention Dependent on Relative Target Locations during Multiple Object Tracking

作者：Matsushima Ayano^*; Tanaka Masaki

来源：Journal of Neuroscience, 2014, 34(30): 9963-9969.

DOI：10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4354-13.2014

• attentional capacity
• bilateral advantage
• MOT
• prefrontal cortex
• primate
• single-unit recording

Human scan simultaneously track multiple moving objects with attention. The number of objects that can be tracked is known to be larger when visual stimuli are presented bilaterally rather than presented unilaterally. To elucidate the underlying neuronal mechanism, we trained monkeys to covertly track a single or multiple object(s). We found that neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortex exhibited greater activity for the target passing through the receptive field (RF) than for distractors. During multiple-object tracking, response enhancement for one target presented in the RF was stronger when the other target was located in the opposite than the same visual hemifield. Because the neuronal modulation did not differ depending on relative target locations with respect to upper and lower visual hemifields, the distance between the targets does not explain the results. We propose that inherent, anatomical separation of visual processing for contralateral and ipsilateral visual fields might constrain cognitive capacity.

• 出版日期2014-7-23