Selective attention is the process whereby a subset of the incoming sensory stream is selected for further processing. In the case of visual attention, this process can be subdivided into two distinct types of selection. The first type entails the establishment of a spatial focus, for preferential processing of a single, circumscribed area of the visual field as needed for object analysis or recognition. The second type involves the establishment of a filter which selectively enhances one or more distinct visual channels across the visual field as a whole, such as to facilitate perception of all stimuli of a specific color, spatial frequency, or direction of motion. The principal investigators will study the neurobiological mechanism of selective visual attention, through computer modeling of the correlates of attention at the single cell level and the integration of visual processing and attentional control at the systems level.
