Attentional Control and Consciousness
10.8.25
Announcements
- Milestone 2 - deadline extended till next Friday (10/17)
- In-class project work day this Friday (10/10)
- proctored by Emma
- Morgan will be away at a conference (but on-call for Q's)
- Exam 1 - tests will be returned to you after the Fall Break (on Wed 10/15)
- Expect key to be posted by end-of-day Friday (10/10).
Why Attention Is Selective: Terms to Learn
- BINDING PROBLEM: Problem faced by the visual system of perceiving which visual features belong to the same object
- FEATURE INTEGRATION THEORY (FIT): Theory that the brain solves the binding problem by selectively attending to one object and ignoring any others
Feature Integration Theory
Why Attention Is Selective
- Selective attention has evolved to deal with constraints on perception that result from how the brain represents objects
- Binding problem
- This refers to how organism manage to determine which visual attributes (color, orientation, etc.) go together to correctly perceive objects in the environment.
- If the binding problem is not solved correctly, then illusory conjunctions result (a false combination of features from two or more objects).
Why Attention Is Selective
- Competition for neural representation
- Object with features that match the neuron’s preferences drives the neuron to produce a strong response, while objects with features that do not match the neuron’s preferences evoke only a weak response.
Why Attention Is Selective
- Biased competition theory
- Brain resolves the competition for neural representation by selectively attending to one object and representing the features of just that object.
- Attention biases the competition so that only the features of the attended object are represented, as if only the attended object were present.
Attention and the Competition for NeuralRepresentation
Attention and the Competition for NeuralRepresentation
- What happens when a person looks into a cluttered visual scene?
- Every neuron in the visual system that has an RF large enough to include two or more objects or object features must resolve the competition for representation by attending to one object and ignoring the rest.
- All the neurons with that object in their RF will respond as if only that object were there.
Attention Control: A Quick Review
Attention is inherently selective.
Attention can be directed to different spatial locations and different features of perceptual objects.
Selective attention is the brain’s mechanism for dealing with solving the binding problem and resolving the competition for neural representation.
Attentional Control
Top-Down vs Bottom-up Attentional Control
Top-down (voluntary) attentional control: Deliberately pay attention to something in the service of achieving a goal
Top-Down vs Bottom-up Attentional Control
Bottom-up (stimulus-driven) attentional control: Involuntary and unavoidable capture of attention by perceptually salient events
Studying Bottom-up Attentional Control
Automatic Guidance from Social Cues
Attention is automatically directed towards where another person shifts their gaze this bias is blunted in autism
Reward Learning and Attention to Valuable Stimuli
Arbitrary stimuli can acquire high attentional priority when they become associated with reward through learning
Representation of Attention Priority in the Brain
Representation of Attention Priority in the Brain
Neurons in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) respond selectively to a stimulus when it is attended
Unilateral Visual Neglect
Damage to the PPC results in a profound deficit in the ability to direct attention to a particular side of space called unilateral visual neglect
Unilateral Visual Neglect
Consciousness
Consciousness
22
The “easy problem” of consciousness is understanding how particular patterns of neural activity create specific conscious experiences (objective experience).
Consciousness
23
The “hard problem” of consciousness is understanding brain processes that produce people’s subjective experiences of their conscious perceptions; impossible to communicate to others. For example, does red look the same to me as it does to you?
Consciousness
24
Many brain functions are said to be cognitively impenetrable, including basic neural processing operations that cannot be experienced/accessed through introspection. For example, visual processing (perception) is not influenced by cognition, except for:
- effects of attention
- recognition of visual stimuli (based on recalling information)
attention
Pylyshyn 1999
Consciousness
25
Our subjective experience of consciousness is connected to free will, or the belief that our conscious self is in charge of our actions and decisions, and that we could have made a different choice.
Conscious experiences of intention to act may be felt as much as 5-10 seconds later than the neural activity involved with making a decision, as seen in fMRI.
Neural Correlates of Consciousness
Neural Correlates of Consciousness
How neural activity relates to reports of conscious experience Studied in various ways, including:
- when visual perception changes without stimulus or gaze changing
- brain damage that affects consciousness
Neural correlates of consciousness
28
Consciousness may be defined as being aware that we are conscious, coupled with our perception of what is going on in our minds. The default mode network includes parts of frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes that are activated during introspection and reflection (thinking about self/others, future/past). May be related to consciousness.
Neural correlates of consciousness
29
Maps of deactivated areas in coma patients suggest consciousness depends on a specific frontoparietal network.
Neural correlates of consciousness
30
However, some coma patients can use mental imagery to create “yes” and “no” patterns of activity on fMRI to answer questions. Imagery: a) hitting a fictitious tennis ball back and forth across an imaginary net increases activity to the supplementary motor area (SMA), b) mentally walking from room to room inside your house increases activity in the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). No definitive measure of consciousness.
Neural Correlates of Perceptual Consciousness
Conscious perception is correlated with the strength of activation in brain areas associated with sensory processing Unilateral visual neglect and the potential role of the PPC in conscious visual perception
Blindsight
Lessons from Blindsight
V1 is necessary (but not sufficient) for conscious visual perception Several visual abilities, such as localizing or even discriminating an object, do not depend on consciousness What does it mean to be conscious?
20 -Attentional Control and Consciousness (10.8.25)
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Transcript
Attentional Control and Consciousness
10.8.25
Announcements
Why Attention Is Selective: Terms to Learn
Feature Integration Theory
Why Attention Is Selective
Why Attention Is Selective
Why Attention Is Selective
Attention and the Competition for NeuralRepresentation
Attention and the Competition for NeuralRepresentation
Attention Control: A Quick Review
Attention is inherently selective.
Attention can be directed to different spatial locations and different features of perceptual objects.
Selective attention is the brain’s mechanism for dealing with solving the binding problem and resolving the competition for neural representation.
Attentional Control
Top-Down vs Bottom-up Attentional Control
Top-down (voluntary) attentional control: Deliberately pay attention to something in the service of achieving a goal
Top-Down vs Bottom-up Attentional Control
Bottom-up (stimulus-driven) attentional control: Involuntary and unavoidable capture of attention by perceptually salient events
Studying Bottom-up Attentional Control
Automatic Guidance from Social Cues
Attention is automatically directed towards where another person shifts their gaze this bias is blunted in autism
Reward Learning and Attention to Valuable Stimuli
Arbitrary stimuli can acquire high attentional priority when they become associated with reward through learning
Representation of Attention Priority in the Brain
Representation of Attention Priority in the Brain
Neurons in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) respond selectively to a stimulus when it is attended
Unilateral Visual Neglect
Damage to the PPC results in a profound deficit in the ability to direct attention to a particular side of space called unilateral visual neglect
Unilateral Visual Neglect
Consciousness
Consciousness
22
The “easy problem” of consciousness is understanding how particular patterns of neural activity create specific conscious experiences (objective experience).
Consciousness
23
The “hard problem” of consciousness is understanding brain processes that produce people’s subjective experiences of their conscious perceptions; impossible to communicate to others. For example, does red look the same to me as it does to you?
Consciousness
24
Many brain functions are said to be cognitively impenetrable, including basic neural processing operations that cannot be experienced/accessed through introspection. For example, visual processing (perception) is not influenced by cognition, except for:
attention
Pylyshyn 1999
Consciousness
25
Our subjective experience of consciousness is connected to free will, or the belief that our conscious self is in charge of our actions and decisions, and that we could have made a different choice.
Conscious experiences of intention to act may be felt as much as 5-10 seconds later than the neural activity involved with making a decision, as seen in fMRI.
Neural Correlates of Consciousness
Neural Correlates of Consciousness
How neural activity relates to reports of conscious experience Studied in various ways, including:
Neural correlates of consciousness
28
Consciousness may be defined as being aware that we are conscious, coupled with our perception of what is going on in our minds. The default mode network includes parts of frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes that are activated during introspection and reflection (thinking about self/others, future/past). May be related to consciousness.
Neural correlates of consciousness
29
Maps of deactivated areas in coma patients suggest consciousness depends on a specific frontoparietal network.
Neural correlates of consciousness
30
However, some coma patients can use mental imagery to create “yes” and “no” patterns of activity on fMRI to answer questions. Imagery: a) hitting a fictitious tennis ball back and forth across an imaginary net increases activity to the supplementary motor area (SMA), b) mentally walking from room to room inside your house increases activity in the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). No definitive measure of consciousness.
Neural Correlates of Perceptual Consciousness
Conscious perception is correlated with the strength of activation in brain areas associated with sensory processing Unilateral visual neglect and the potential role of the PPC in conscious visual perception
Blindsight
Lessons from Blindsight
V1 is necessary (but not sufficient) for conscious visual perception Several visual abilities, such as localizing or even discriminating an object, do not depend on consciousness What does it mean to be conscious?