Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations
The biased-competition theory accounts for attentional effects at the single-neuron level: It predicts that the neuronal response to simultaneously-presented stimuli is a weighted average of the response to isolated stimuli, and that attention biases the weights in favor of the attended stimulus. Pe...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70025 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3853-7885 |
| _version_ | 1826203368390918144 |
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| author | Reddy, Leila Kanwisher, Nancy VanRullen, Rufin |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Reddy, Leila Kanwisher, Nancy VanRullen, Rufin |
| author_sort | Reddy, Leila |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The biased-competition theory accounts for attentional effects at the single-neuron level: It predicts that the neuronal response to simultaneously-presented stimuli is a weighted average of the response to isolated stimuli, and that attention biases the weights in favor of the attended stimulus. Perception, however, relies not on single neurons but on larger neuronal populations. The responses of such populations are in part reflected in large-scale multivoxel fMRI activation patterns. Because the pooling of neuronal responses into blood-oxygen-level-dependent signals is nonlinear, fMRI effects of attention need not mirror those observed at the neuronal level. Thus, to bridge the gap between neuronal responses and human perception, it is fundamental to understand attentional influences in large-scale multivariate representations of simultaneously-presented objects. Here, we ask how responses to simultaneous stimuli are combined in multivoxel fMRI patterns, and how attention affects the paired response. Objects from four categories were presented singly, or in pairs such that each category was attended, unattended, or attention was divided between the two. In a multidimensional voxel space, the response to simultaneously-presented categories was well described as a weighted average. The weights were biased toward the preferred category in category-selective regions. Consistent with single-unit reports, attention shifted the weights by ≈30% in favor of the attended stimulus. These findings extend the biased-competition framework to the realm of large-scale multivoxel brain activations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:35:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/70025 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:35:48Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/700252022-10-01T09:58:29Z Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations Reddy, Leila Kanwisher, Nancy VanRullen, Rufin Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT Kanwisher, Nancy Kanwisher, Nancy The biased-competition theory accounts for attentional effects at the single-neuron level: It predicts that the neuronal response to simultaneously-presented stimuli is a weighted average of the response to isolated stimuli, and that attention biases the weights in favor of the attended stimulus. Perception, however, relies not on single neurons but on larger neuronal populations. The responses of such populations are in part reflected in large-scale multivoxel fMRI activation patterns. Because the pooling of neuronal responses into blood-oxygen-level-dependent signals is nonlinear, fMRI effects of attention need not mirror those observed at the neuronal level. Thus, to bridge the gap between neuronal responses and human perception, it is fundamental to understand attentional influences in large-scale multivariate representations of simultaneously-presented objects. Here, we ask how responses to simultaneous stimuli are combined in multivoxel fMRI patterns, and how attention affects the paired response. Objects from four categories were presented singly, or in pairs such that each category was attended, unattended, or attention was divided between the two. In a multidimensional voxel space, the response to simultaneously-presented categories was well described as a weighted average. The weights were biased toward the preferred category in category-selective regions. Consistent with single-unit reports, attention shifted the weights by ≈30% in favor of the attended stimulus. These findings extend the biased-competition framework to the realm of large-scale multivoxel brain activations. National Eye Institute (Grant EY 13455) Fondation pour la recherche médicale Fyssen Foundation France. Agence nationale de la recherche (Project ANR 06JCJC-0154) European Science Foundation (European Young Investigator Award) 2012-04-13T17:31:47Z 2012-04-13T17:31:47Z 2009-12 2009-07 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0027-8424 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70025 Reddy, L., N. G. Kanwisher, and R. VanRullen. “Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106.50 (2009): 21447–21452. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3853-7885 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0907330106 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) PNAS |
| spellingShingle | Reddy, Leila Kanwisher, Nancy VanRullen, Rufin Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations |
| title | Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations |
| title_full | Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations |
| title_fullStr | Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations |
| title_short | Attention and Biased Competition in Multi-voxel Object Representations |
| title_sort | attention and biased competition in multi voxel object representations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70025 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3853-7885 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT reddyleila attentionandbiasedcompetitioninmultivoxelobjectrepresentations AT kanwishernancy attentionandbiasedcompetitioninmultivoxelobjectrepresentations AT vanrullenrufin attentionandbiasedcompetitioninmultivoxelobjectrepresentations |