Access

Research Highlights

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9, 802 (1 November 2008) | doi:10.1038/nrn2525

Attention: The guard and the gate

Katherine Whalley

The overwhelming quantity of information that is gathered by our sensory organs creates a challenge for the brain, as it must ensure that we attend to the information that is most relevant for the task in hand. The responses of cortical neurons to stimuli to which attention is directed are thus enhanced; however, the mechanisms by which this modulation arises are poorly understood.