Abstract
The present study aimed at investigating the possible connection between conscious awareness and attention through the implementation of a neurocomputational model of visual selective attention. The development of the model was based on recent neurophysiological findings that document the synchronization of neural activity in cortical areas of the brain and the presence of competitive interactions among stimuli at the early stages of visual processing. The model was used to simulate the findings of a behavioural experiment conducted by Naccache et al. in Psychol Sci 13:416–424 (2002), which have sparked a debate on the possible links between attention and consciousness. The model reproduced closely the pattern of the behavioural data while incorporating mechanisms that take into account the neural activity representing the early visual processing of stimuli and the effects of top–down attention. Thus, by adopting a computational approach, we present a possible explanation of the findings at the neural level of information processing. The implications of these findings for the relation between attentional processes and conscious awareness are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Corbetta M, Shulman GL. Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2002;3:201–15.
Buschman TJ, Miller EK. Top-downversus bottom-up control of attention in the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices. Science. 2007;30:1860–2.
Beck DM, Kastner S. Stimulus context modulates competition in human extrastriate cortex. Nat Neurosci. 2005;8:1110–6.
Fukuda K, Vogel EK. Human variation in overriding attentional capture. J Neurosci. 2009;29:8726–33.
Grossberg S. How does a brain build a cognitive code? Psych Rev. 1980;87:1–51.
Grossberg S. The link between brain learning, attention, and consciousness. Consci Cogn. 1999;8:1–44.
Jackendoff R. How language helps us think. Pragmat Cogn. 1996;4:1–34.
O’Regan JK, Noe A. A sensorimotor account of vision and visual consciousness. Behav Brain Sci. 2001;24:939–73.
Posner MI. Attention: the mechanisms of consciousness. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1994;9:7398–403.
Velmans M. The science of consciousness. London: Routledge; 1996.
Bachmann T. A single metatheoretical framework for a number of conscious-vision phenomena. In: Jing Q, editor. Psychological science around the world. Sussex: Psychology Press; 2006. p. 229–42.
Lamme VA. Why visual attention and awareness are different. Trends Cogn Sci. 2003;7:12–8.
Koch C, Tsuchiya N. Attention and consciousness: two distinct brain processes. Trends Cogn Sci. 2006;11(1):16–22.
Mack A, Rock I. Inattentional blindness. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 1998.
Simons DJ, Rensick RA. Change blindness: past, present, and future. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005;9:16–20.
Sperling G, Dosher B. Strategy and optimization in human information processing. In: Handbook of perception and human performance. 1986. p. 1–65.
Braun J, Julesz B. Withdrawing attention at little or no cost: detection and discrimination tasks. Percept Psychophys. 1998;60:1–23.
Raymond JE, Shapiro KL, Arnell KM. Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: an attentional blink? J Exp Psyc Human Perc Perform. 1992;18(3):849–60.
Naccache L, Blandin E, Dehaene S. Unconscious masked priming depends on temporal attention. Psychol Sci. 2002;13:416–24.
Reynolds JH, Desimone R. Interacting roles of attention and visual salience in V4. Neuron. 2003;37:853–63.
Moran J, Desimone R. Selective attention gates visual processing in the extrastriate cortex. Science. 1985;229:782–4.
Neokleous CK, Avraamides MN, Schizas CN. Computational modeling of visual selective attention based on correlation and synchronization of neural activity. In: Iliadis L, Vlahavas I, Bramer M, editors. Artificial intelligence applications and innovations III. Boston: Springer; 2009. p. 215–23.
Neokleous CK, Avraamides NM, Neocleous KC, Schizas NC. A neural network computational model of visual selective attention. Eng Intell Syst J. 2010; (in press).
Neokleous KC, Koushiou M, Avraamides NM, Schizas NC. A coincidence detector neural network model of selective attention. In: Proceedings of the 31st annual meeting of the cognitive science society. 2009. The Netherlands: Amsterdam.
Spruston N. Pyramidal neurons: dendritic structure and synaptic integration. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008;9:206–21.
Poghosyan V, Ioannides AA. Attention modulates earliest responses in the primary auditory and visual cortices. Neuron. 2008;58:802–13.
Silver MA, Ress D, Heeger DJ. Neural correlates of sustained spatial attention in human early visual cortex. J Neurophysiol. 2007;97:229–37.
Shibata K, Yamagishi N, Goda N, Yoshioka T, Yamashita O, Sato MA, et al. The effects of feature attention on prestimulus cortical activity in the human visual system. Cereb Cortex. 2008;18:1664–75.
Sillito MA, Grieve KL, Jones HE, Cudeiro J, Davis J. Visual cortical mechanisms detecting focal orientation discontinuities. Nature. 1995;378:492–6.
Nothdurft HC, Gallant JL, Van Essen DC. Response modulation by texture surround in primate area V1: correlates of popout under anesthesia. Vis Neurosci. 1999;16:15–34.
Wachtler T, Sejnowski TJ, Albright TD. Representation of color stimuli in awake macaque primary visual cortex. Neuron. 2003;37(4):681–91.
Knierim JJ, Van Essen DC. Neuronal responses to static texture patterns in area V1 of the alert macaque monkey. J Neurophysiol. 1992;67(4):961–80.
Jones HE, Grieve KL, Wang W, Sillito MA. Surround suppression in primate V1. J Neurophysiol. 2001;86:2011–28.
Koch C, Ullman S. Shifts in selective visual attention: towards the underlying neural circuitry. Hum Neurobiol. 1985;4(4):219–27.
Walther D, Koch C. Modeling attention to salient proto-objects. Neural Netw. 2006;19:1395–407.
Jonides J, Yantis S. Uniqueness of abrupt visual onset in capturing attention. Percept Psychophys. 1988;43:346–54.
Corbetta M, Patel G, Shulman LG. The reorienting system of the human brain: from environment to theory of mind. Neuron. 2008;58(3):306–24.
VanRullen R. Visual saliency and spike timing in the ventral visual pathway. J Physiol Paris. 2003;97(2–3):365–77.
Crick F, Koch C. Towards a neurobiological theory of consciousness. Semin Neurosci. 1990;2:263–75.
Connor CE, Gallant JL, Preddie DC, VanEssen DC. Responses in area V4 depend on the spatial relationship between stimulus and attention. J Neurophysiol. 1996;75:1306–8.
Chelazzi L, Miller EK, Duncan J, Desimone R. A neural basis for visual search in inferior temporal cortex. Nature. 1993;363:345–7.
Gruber T, Muller MM, Keil A, Elbert T. Selective visual-spatial attention alters induced gamma band responses in the human EEG. Clin Neurophysiol. 1999;110:2074–85.
Fries P, Reynolds JH, Rorie AE, Desimone R. Modulation of oscillatory neuronal synchronization by selective visual attention. Science. 2001;291:1560–3.
Gross J, Schmitz F, Schnitzler I, Kessler K, Shapiro K, Hommel B, et al. Modulation of long-range neural synchrony reflects temporal limitations of visual attention in humans. PNAS USA. 2004;101:13050–5.
Niebur E, Hsiao SS, Johnson KO. Synchrony: a neuronal mechanism for attentional selection? Curr Opin Neurol. 2002;12:190–4.
Saalmann YB, Pigarev IN, Vidyasagar TR. Neural mechanisms of visual attention: how top-down feedback highlights relevant locations. Science. 2007;316:1612–5.
Gregoriou G, Gotts S, Zhou H, Desimone R. High-frequency, long-range coupling between prefrontal and visual cortex during attention. Science. 2009;324:1207–10.
Grossberg S. How does the cerebral cortex work? Learning, attention, and grouping by the laminar circuits of visual cortex. Spat Vis. 1999;12:163–87.
Dehaene S, Sergent C, Changeux JP. A neuronal network model linking subjective reports and objective physiological data during conscious perception. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2003;100:8520–5.
Engel AK, Fries P, Singer W. Dynamic predictions: oscillations and synchrony in top–down processing. Nature. 2001;2:704–16.
Womelsdorf T, Schoffelen JM, Oostenveld R, Singer W, Desimone R, Engel AK, Fries P. Modulation of neuronal interactions through neuronal synchronization. Science. 2007;316(5831):1578–9.
Fox MD, Corbetta M, Snyder AZ, Vincent JL, Raichle ME. Spontaneous neuronal activity distinguishes human dorsal and ventral attention systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006;103:10046–51.
Ogawa T, Komatsu H. Target selection in area V4 during a multidimensional visual search task. J Neurosci. 2004;24:6371–82.
Reynolds JH, Desimone R. Interacting roles of attention and visual salience in V4. Neuron. 2003;37:853–63.
Treue S. Visual attention: the where, what, how and why of saliency. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2003;13:428–32.
Mole C. Attention in the absence of consciousness? Trends Cogn Sci. 2008;12:43–4.
Dehaene S, Changeux JP, Naccache L, Sackur J, Sergent C. Conscious, preconscious, and subliminal processing: a testable taxonomy. Trends Cogn Sci. 2006;10:204–11.
Dehaene S, Naccache L. Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness: basic evidence and a workspace framework. Cognition. 2001;79:1–37.
Moutoussis K, Zeki S. The relationship between cortical activation and perception investigated with invisible stimuli. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2002;99:9527–32.
Marois R, Yi DJ, Chun MM. The neural fate of consciously perceived and missed events in the attentional blink. Neuron. 2004;41:465–72.
Sergent C, Baillet S, Dehaene S. Timing of the brain events underlying access to consiousness during the attentional blink. Nat Neurosci. 2005;8(10):1391–400.
VanRullen R, Koch C. Visual selective behaviour can be triggered by a feed-forward process. J Cogn Neurosci. 2003;15:209–17.
Lamme VA. Why visual attention and awareness are different. Trends Cogn Sci. 2003;7(1):12–8.
Taylor JG. Paying attention to consciousness. Prog Neurobiol. 2003;71:305–35.
Taylor JG. CODAM: a neural network model of consciousness. Neural Netw. 2007;20(9):983–92.
Acknowledgments
This research is funded by grant 0308(BE)/16 from the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neokleous, K.C., Avraamides, M.N., Neocleous, C.K. et al. Selective Attention and Consciousness: Investigating Their Relation Through Computational Modelling. Cogn Comput 3, 321–331 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12559-010-9063-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12559-010-9063-2