ePrints

Cortical state and attention

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alexander Thiele

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

The brain continuously adapts its processing machinery to behavioural demands. To achieve this, it rapidly modulates the operating mode of cortical circuits, controlling the way that information is transformed and routed. This article will focus on two experimental approaches by which the control of cortical information processing has been investigated: the study of state-dependent cortical processing in rodents and attention in the primate visual system. Both processes involve a modulation of low-frequency activity fluctuations and spiking correlation, and are mediated by common receptor systems. We suggest that selective attention involves processes that are similar to state change, and that operate at a local columnar level to enhance the representation of otherwise non-salient features while suppressing internally generated activity patterns.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Harris KD, Thiele A

Publication type: Review

Publication status: Published

Journal: Nature Reviews. Neuroscience

Year: 2011

Volume: 12

Issue: 9

Pages: 509 - 523

Print publication date: 01/09/2011

ISSN (print): 1471-003X

ISSN (electronic): 1471-0048

Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

URL: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1038/nrn3084

DOI: 10.1038/nrn3084

PubMed id: 21829219

Share