Final Activity Report Summary - CORTICAL MAPS (Spatiotopic maps in higher cortical areas in the human brain and their relation to spatial attention)
The visual cortex in primate brains contains maps of visual space, called cortical retinotopic maps: as a visual stimulus moves across visual space and the retina, the corresponding neural activity also moves along the cortical surface, thus forming a 'map' of visual space. The existence of these maps has long been known and they have been observed in the human brain using neuroimaging for over a decade.
One new finding is that there are also maps of visual space in regions of the brain outside of early visual cortex. But why would there be multiple maps in various parts of the brain? What are their functional roles?
Here we have investigated this question in humans using neuroimaging (fMRI). Using complex, meaningful stimuli (biological motion) and novel experimental paradigms we uncovered cortical maps in areas of cortex beyond early visual regions, in temporal, parietal, even frontal cortex. Additionally, we investigated how spatial attention modulates neural activity in these areas.
The results indicate that cortical maps have different functional properties. Some allow us to represent important objects in the visual world whether or not we are attending to those stimuli, while others are only activated when we direct our attention to the stimuli. It appears that these maps and the interactions between them allow us to achieve the many perceptual and attentional states we experience every day.
One new finding is that there are also maps of visual space in regions of the brain outside of early visual cortex. But why would there be multiple maps in various parts of the brain? What are their functional roles?
Here we have investigated this question in humans using neuroimaging (fMRI). Using complex, meaningful stimuli (biological motion) and novel experimental paradigms we uncovered cortical maps in areas of cortex beyond early visual regions, in temporal, parietal, even frontal cortex. Additionally, we investigated how spatial attention modulates neural activity in these areas.
The results indicate that cortical maps have different functional properties. Some allow us to represent important objects in the visual world whether or not we are attending to those stimuli, while others are only activated when we direct our attention to the stimuli. It appears that these maps and the interactions between them allow us to achieve the many perceptual and attentional states we experience every day.