Paper Info
Title
Placing a tool in the spotlight: spatial attention modulates visuomotor responses in cortex
Abstract
Visual spatial attention has long been associated with facilitatory effects on visual perception. Here, we report that spatial attention can also modulate implicit visuomotor processing in dorsal regions of human cortex. Participants underwent fMRI scanning while performing a voluntary attentional orienting task that varied the category of a task-irrelevant object in the attended location (tool vs. non-tool). Data were then analyzed as a function of the attended location (left vs. right visual field) and the object category in that location. We found that the fMRI BOLD response in two visuomotor-related regions–the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL)–showed an interaction between the location of attention and the location of the tool in the bilateral display. Further, these responses were statistically distinct from those regions in dorsal cortex showing activity modulated only by the tool location or only by the attended location. While the effects of attending non-foveally within the visual field have been well documented in relation to visual perception, our findings support the proposal that voluntary visuospatial attention may also have consequences for the implicit planning of object-directed actions.
Year
DOI
Venue
2005
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.01.029
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
visual perception
SMA*,Cortex (botany),Visual spatial attention,Psychology,N2pc,Cognitive psychology,Supplementary motor area,Visual N1,Visual field,Visual perception
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
26
1
1053-8119
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
3
3.97
3
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Todd C Handy16715.48
Jana Schaich Borg25112.96
David J Turk34210.95
Christine Tipper4286.75
Scott T. Grafton543245.40
Michael S Gazzaniga6358.77