Article

The neural theory of visual attention and short-term memory (NTVA) proposed by
Bundesen, Habekost, and Kyllingsbaek (2005) is reviewed. In NTVA, filtering
(selection of objects) changes the number of cortical neurons in which an object
is represented so that this number increases with the behavioural importance of
the object. Another mechanism of selection, pigeonholing (selection of features),
scales the level of activation in neurons coding for a particular feature. By
these mechanisms, behaviourally important objects and features are likely to win
the competition to become encoded into visual short-term memory (VSTM). The VSTM
system is conceived as a feedback mechanism that sustains activity in the neurons
that have won the attentional competition. NTVA accounts both for a wide range of
attentional effects in human performance (reaction times and error rates) and a
wide range of effects observed in firing rates of single cells in the primate
visual system.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS