QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, October 29, 2008, 28(44):11106-11110; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3591-08.2008

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schenkluhn, B. Articles by Chambers, C. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schenkluhn, B. Articles by Chambers, C. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Brief Communications
Parietal Stimulation Decouples Spatial and Feature-Based Attention

Bertram Schenkluhn,^1,2 Christian C. Ruff,^1,2 Klaartje Heinen,^1,2,3 and Christopher D. Chambers^1,2,3

¹Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom, ²Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom, and ³School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to Christopher D. Chambers, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK. Email: chambersc1{at}cardiff.ac.uk

Everyday visual scenes contain a vast quantity of information, only a fraction of which can guide our behavior. Properties such as the location, color and orientation of stimuli help us extract relevant information from complex scenes (Treisman and Gelade, 1980; Livingstone and Hubel, 1987). But how does the brain coordinate the selection of such different stimulus characteristics? Neuroimaging studies have revealed significant regions of overlapping activity in frontoparietal cortex during attention to locations and features, suggesting a global component to visual selection (Vandenberghe et al., 2001; Corbetta and Shulman, 2002; Giesbrecht et al., 2003; Slagter et al., 2007). At the same time, the neural consequences of spatial and feature-based attention differ markedly in early visual areas (Treue and Martinez-Trujillo, 2007), implying that selection may rely on more specific top-down processes. Here we probed the balance between specialized and generalized control by interrupting preparatory attention in the human parietal cortex with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We found that stimulation of the supramarginal gyrus (SMG) impaired spatial attention only, whereas TMS of the anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS) disrupted spatial and feature-based attention. The selection of different stimulus characteristics is thus mediated by distinct top-down mechanisms, which can be decoupled by cortical interference.

Key words: attention; transcranial magnetic stimulation; parietal cortex; spatial selection; feature-based selection; top-down control

---

Received July 30, 2008; accepted Sept. 6, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Christopher D. Chambers, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK. Email: chambersc1{at}cardiff.ac.uk

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help