Preparatory attentional templates in prefrontal and sensory cortex encode target-associated information.

ABSTRACT: Visual search relies on the ability to use information about the target in working memory to guide attention and make target-match decisions. The 'attentional' or 'target' template is thought to be encoded within an inferior frontal junction (IFJ)-visual attentional network. While this template typically contains veridical target features, behavioral studies have shown that target-associated information, such as statistically co-occurring object pairs, can also guide attention. However, preparatory activation of associated information within the IFJ-visual attentional network has never been demonstrated. We used fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis to test if target-associated information is explicitly represented in advance of visual search. Participants learned four face-scene category

SUBMITTER: Zhou Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12416899 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature