This proposal uses functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans to understand how cognitive and motor functions influence visual processing. The human visual system continually modifies how it processes visual information in order to effectively interpret the vast amounts of incoming stimuli using limited neural resources. Through attention, the brain shifts resources so that select visual stimuli are processed faster and with higher accuracy. Through eye movements, the brain focuses the most sensitive region of the eye (the fovea) on important visual stimuli to facilitate processing. The experiments in this proposal seek to understand how changes in attention and eye position affect neural activity in visual cortex. There are as many as two million American children affected by disorders of attention such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A deeper understanding of the basic neural mechanisms underlying attention will lead to improved diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic procedures for this and related disorders.
| Gardner, Justin L; Merriam, Elisha P; Movshon, J Anthony et al. (2008) Maps of visual space in human occipital cortex are retinotopic, not spatiotopic. J Neurosci 28:3988-99 |
| Merriam, Elisha P; Genovese, Christopher R; Colby, Carol L (2007) Remapping in human visual cortex. J Neurophysiol 97:1738-55 |
