Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Attention: beyond neural response increases

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 1083–1084 (2006)Cite this article

Spatial attention has been shown to enhance visual processing by increasing the strength of neural responses. A new study suggests that in cortical area MT it also shifts neural receptive fields toward attended targets.

As you read this article, you focus on a few words at a time, ignoring all the other visual information on the page and in the rest of the room. We know that this kind of attention involves a spatially localized elevation of neural responses in visual cortex1. That makes sense—stronger responses should selectively enhance perception of the attended object. Are stronger responses the only benefit of attention at the neural level? Perhaps not. The report by Womelsdorf et al.2 in this issue adds to evidence suggesting that attention provides more than just an energy boost.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Attention mechanisms that could produce partial receptive field shifts.

References

  1. Reynolds, J.H. & Chelazzi, L. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 27, 611–647 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Womelsdorf, T. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 9, 1156–1160 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Maunsell, J.H.R. & McAdams, C.J. in The New Cognitive Neurosciences 315–324 (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Connor, C.E., Preddie, D.C., Gallant, J.L. & Van Essen, D.C. J. Neurosci. 17 3201–3214 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Olshausen, B.A., Anderson, C.H. & Van Essen, D.C. J. Neurosci. 13, 4700–4719 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pouget, A. Deneve, S. & Duhamel, J.R. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 3, 741–747 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Olson, C.R. & Gettner, S.N. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 6, 165–170 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pasupathy, A. & Connor, C.E. J. Neurophysiol. 86, 2505–2519 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Brincat, S.L. & Connor, C.E. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 880–886 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Tolias, A.S. et al. Neuron 29, 757–767 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Duhamel, J.R., Colby, C.L. & Goldberg, M.E. Science 255, 90–92 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and at the Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 21218, Maryland, USA

    Charles E Connor

Authors
  1. Charles E Connor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Connor, C. Attention: beyond neural response increases. Nat Neurosci 9, 1083–1084 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0906-1083

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0906-1083

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing