Top-down interpretation alters low-level visual processing

Top-down attention switches coupling between low-level and high-level areas of human visual cortex.

Top-down attention is an essential cognitive ability, allowing our finite brains to process complex natural environments by prioritizing information relevant to our goals. Previous evidence suggests that top-down attention operates by modulating stimulus-evoked neural activity within visual areas specialized for processing goal-relevant information. We show that top-down attention also has a se...

Top-down contingent attentional capture during feed-forward visual processing.

Theeuwes (2010) summarizes an impressive number of studies demonstrating interference by irrelevant visual singletons in computer experiments with humans. In these studies, if participants search for a relevant singleton target, such as the single diamond among circles (i.e., a shape singleton), an irrelevant singleton distractor, such as the single red circle among the green stimuli (i.e., a c...

Gravity Influences Top-Down Signals in Visual Processing

Visual perception is not only based on incoming visual signals but also on information about a multimodal reference frame that incorporates vestibulo-proprioceptive input and motor signals. In addition, top-down modulation of visual processing has previously been demonstrated during cognitive operations including selective attention and working memory tasks. In the absence of a stable gravitati...

Top-down influence in early visual processing: a Bayesian perspective.

Traditional views of visual processing suggest that early visual neurons are static spatiotemporal filters that extract local features by feedforward computation. The extracted information is then fed forward through a chain of modules to successively higher visual areas for further analysis. Recording from early visual neurons in awake behaving monkeys, we revealed there are many levels of com...

High-level Vision: Top-down Processing in Neurally Inspired Architectures