Visual short-term memory load suppresses temporo-parietal junction activity and induces inattentional blindness.
The right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is critical for stimulus-driven attention and visual awareness. Here we show that as the visual short-term memory (VSTM) load of a task increases, activity in this region is increasingly suppressed. Correspondingly, increasing VSTM load impairs the ability of subjects to consciously detect the presence of a novel, unexpected object in the visual field. These results not only demonstrate that VSTM load suppresses TPJ activity and induces inattentional blindness, but also offer a plausible neural mechanism for this perceptual deficit: suppression of the stimulus-driven attentional network.
Todd
J Jay
JJ
Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. rene.marois@vanderbilt.edu
Fougnie
Daryl
D
Marois
René
R
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception