Visual attention defines the ability of the mammalian brain to select visual information for purposeful behavior. The broad long-term scientific goal of this proposal for a Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (MCSDA) is to understand the neural basis of visual attention in the human brain, and its relationship to perceptual and visumotor processes. Knowledge of the neural processes mediating visual attention has broad implications for theories of visual awareness and the pathophysiology of attentional deficits that are commonly present in numerous psychiatric and neurological conditions affecting the human brain. Functional MRI (fMRI) and psychophysical stimulation protocols are proposed to: I. Image regions of parietal and frontal cortex related to visuospatial attention, and their spatial overlap with regions involved in motion processing and visumotor behavior; ii. Clarify the contribution of frontal and parietal regions related to visuospatial attention to exogenous (or sensory- driven) vs. endogenous (or cognitive-driven) selection of location information, and space - vs. object-based visual selection. iii. Expose the functional significance of the temporal profiles and cross-correlations of the blood oxygenation level decedent (BOLD) signals measured in parietal and frontal regions during attentional tasks. This proposal will also provide formal educational training in the use of magnetic resonance (MR) methodologies to study normal and abnormal brain function. Training will be provided through the sponsorship of Dr. Marcus Raichle, collaboration with several MR investigators of the Mallinkrodt Institute of Radiology, and numerous educational opportunities at Washington University, St. Louis. this training will provide methodological, scientific and cultural instruments, necessary to develop an independent career in Clinical Neuroscience as an academic physician scientist.
