How spatial and feature-based attention affect the gain and tuning of population responses

نویسندگان

  • Sam Ling
  • Taosheng Liu
  • Marisa Carrasco
چکیده

How does attention optimize our visual system for the task at hand? Two mechanisms have been proposed for how attention improves signal processing: gain and tuning. To distinguish between these two mechanisms we use the equivalent-noise paradigm, which measures performance as a function of external noise. In the present study we explored how spatial and feature-based attention affect performance by assessing their threshold-vs-noise (TvN) curves with regard to the signature behavioral effects of gain and tuning. Furthermore, we link our psychophysical results to neurophysiology by implementing a simple, biologically-plausible model to show that attention affects the gain and tuning of population responses differentially, depending on the type of attention being deployed: Whereas spatial attention operates by boosting the gain of the population response, feature-based attention operates by both boosting the gain and sharpening the tuning of the population response.

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • Vision Research

دوره 49  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2009