The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.

Our previous studies of the role of the parietal cortex in visual learning and attention showed that the right parietal cortex is required for normal performance on conjunction visual search tasks but that its role depends on whether subjects are naive or trained on the task. Here we extend these fi...

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Main Authors: Walsh, V, Ellison, A, Ashbridge, E, Cowey, A
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 1999
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author Walsh, V
Ellison, A
Ashbridge, E
Cowey, A
author_facet Walsh, V
Ellison, A
Ashbridge, E
Cowey, A
author_sort Walsh, V
collection OXFORD
description Our previous studies of the role of the parietal cortex in visual learning and attention showed that the right parietal cortex is required for normal performance on conjunction visual search tasks but that its role depends on whether subjects are naive or trained on the task. Here we extend these findings in two Experiments. Experiment 1 shows that magnetic stimulation of the left parietal cortex also impairs performance (measured as reaction time) on conjunction visual search tasks, but only when the target is present in the right (contralateral) visual field. Stimulation of the same region on a feature detection task speeds up performance significantly when the target is in the left (ipsilateral) visual field. Experiment 2 explores further the role of the right parietal cortex in learning conjunction search tasks. Stimulation of the right parietal cortex in subjects who had already trained on some visual search tasks did not impair performance on a novel motion/form conjunction task even though the search was clearly serial. Stimulation of area V5, however, severely disrupted performance on the same task. These data indicate that the role of the parietal cortex may change much earlier in the course of training than initially thought.
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spelling oxford-uuid:0dbec3dd-1b42-4bbe-af16-c4007e0e022c2022-03-26T09:42:08ZThe role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0dbec3dd-1b42-4bbe-af16-c4007e0e022cEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford1999Walsh, VEllison, AAshbridge, ECowey, AOur previous studies of the role of the parietal cortex in visual learning and attention showed that the right parietal cortex is required for normal performance on conjunction visual search tasks but that its role depends on whether subjects are naive or trained on the task. Here we extend these findings in two Experiments. Experiment 1 shows that magnetic stimulation of the left parietal cortex also impairs performance (measured as reaction time) on conjunction visual search tasks, but only when the target is present in the right (contralateral) visual field. Stimulation of the same region on a feature detection task speeds up performance significantly when the target is in the left (ipsilateral) visual field. Experiment 2 explores further the role of the right parietal cortex in learning conjunction search tasks. Stimulation of the right parietal cortex in subjects who had already trained on some visual search tasks did not impair performance on a novel motion/form conjunction task even though the search was clearly serial. Stimulation of area V5, however, severely disrupted performance on the same task. These data indicate that the role of the parietal cortex may change much earlier in the course of training than initially thought.
spellingShingle Walsh, V
Ellison, A
Ashbridge, E
Cowey, A
The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.
title The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.
title_full The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.
title_fullStr The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.
title_full_unstemmed The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.
title_short The role of the parietal cortex in visual attention--hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning: a magnetic stimulation study.
title_sort role of the parietal cortex in visual attention hemispheric asymmetries and the effects of learning a magnetic stimulation study
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