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Filtering of neural signals by focused attention in the monkey prefrontal cortex

Nature Neuroscience volume 5, pages 671–676 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Prefrontal cortex is thought to be important in attention and awareness. Here we recorded the activity of prefrontal neurons in monkeys carrying out a focused attention task. Having directed attention to one location, monkeys monitored a stream of visual objects, awaiting a predefined target. Although neurons rarely discriminated between one non-target and another, they commonly discriminated between targets and non-targets. From the onset of the visual response, this target/non-target discrimination was effectively eliminated when the same objects appeared at an unattended location in the opposite visual hemifield. The results show that, in prefrontal cortex, filtering of ignored locations is strong, early and spatially global. Such filtering may be important in blindness to unattended signals—a conspicuous aspect of human selective attention.

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Figure 1: The focused attention task and recording locations.
Figure 2: Unilateral condition; activity of prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons that showed object (target versus non-target) selectivity.
Figure 3: Neural activity for selected stimulus-response combinations.
Figure 4: Bilateral condition; activity in the selected cell sample for the different stimulus combinations of target and non-target objects.
Figure 5: Influence of attention on object selectivity at the preferred location.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank E.K. Miller and T. Norden-Krichmar for assistance in setting up Cortex, W. Asaad for supplying the SpikeToolbox, and S. Mygdal and M. Brown for surgical assistance.

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Author notes

  1. Stefan Everling

    Present address: Departments of Physiology & Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 2EF, UK

    Stefan Everling, Chris J. Tinsley & John Duncan

  2. Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK

    Stefan Everling, Chris J. Tinsley & David Gaffan

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Correspondence to John Duncan.

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Everling, S., Tinsley, C., Gaffan, D. et al. Filtering of neural signals by focused attention in the monkey prefrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci 5, 671–676 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn874

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