The role of prefrontal cortex in the control of feature attention in area V4

Narcisse P. Bichot (), Rui Xu, Azriel Ghadooshahy, Michael L. Williams and Robert Desimone
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Narcisse P. Bichot: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rui Xu: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Azriel Ghadooshahy: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael L. Williams: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert Desimone: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract When searching for an object in a cluttered scene, we can use our memory of the target object features to guide our search, and the responses of neurons in multiple cortical visual areas are enhanced when their receptive field contains a stimulus sharing target object features. Here we tested the role of the ventral prearcuate region (VPA) of prefrontal cortex in the control of feature attention in cortical visual area V4. VPA was unilaterally inactivated in monkeys performing a free-viewing visual search for a target stimulus in an array of stimuli, impairing monkeys’ ability to find the target in the array in the affected hemifield, but leaving intact their ability to make saccades to targets presented alone. Simultaneous recordings in V4 revealed that the effects of feature attention on V4 responses were eliminated or greatly reduced while leaving the effects of spatial attention on responses intact. Altogether, the results suggest that feedback from VPA modulates processing in visual cortex during attention to object features.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13761-7

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