Invariant visual responses from attentional gain fields.
Inferotemporal (IT) neurons exhibit a substantial degree of invariance with respect to translation of images used as visual stimuli. Through theoretical and computer-modeling methods, we show how translation-invariant receptive fields, like those of IT neurons, can be generated from the responses of V4 neurons if the effects of attention are taken into account. The model incorporates a recently reported form of attention-dependent gain modulation in V4 and produces IT receptive fields that shift so they are centered at the point where attention is directed. Receptive fields of variable, attention-controlled spatial scale are obtained when the mechanism is extended to scale-dependent attentional gain fields. The results indicate that gain modulation may play analogous roles in the dorsal and ventral visual pathways, generating transformations from retinal coordinates to body- and object-centered systems, respectively.
Salinas
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Volen Center for Complex Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02254-9110, USA.
Abbott
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LF
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology