Enhancement of visual selection during transient disruption of parietal cortex.
Selective attention is critical for guiding human behavior. Recent theories have described the process of attention as a biased competition between sensory inputs, but questions remain concerning the anatomical basis of these competitive mechanisms. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation, we found that disruption of the right parietal cortex improved the perception of relevant stimuli in competitive visual displays. This enhancement of selective attention is consistent with previous observations and suggests a crucial role of the superior parietal lobule and supramarginal gyrus in mediating competition between visual inputs.
Chambers
Christopher D
CD
Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Behavioural Science, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. chris.chambers@ucl.ac.uk
Stokes
Mark G
MG
Janko
Natasha E
NE
Mattingley
Jason B
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*