How spatial attention alters visual cortical representation during target anticipation.

ABSTRACT: Attention enables us to efficiently and flexibly interact with the environment by prioritizing specific image locations and features in preparation for responding to stimuli. Using a concurrent psychophysics-fMRI experiment, we investigated how covert spatial attention modulates responses in human visual cortex before target onset and how it affects subsequent behavioral performance. Performance improved at cued locations and worsened at uncued locations compared to distributed attention, demonstrating a selective processing tradeoff. Pre-target BOLD responses in cortical visual field maps revealed two key changes: First, a stimulus-independent baseline shift, with increases near cued locations and decreases elsewhere, paralleling behavioral results. Second, a shift in population receptive

SUBMITTER: Tuncok E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10942396 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature