Interacting rhythms enhance sensitivity of target detection in a fronto-parietal computational model of visual attention
- Boston University, United States
- University of Rochester, United States
- Princeton University, United States
Abstract
Even during sustained attention, enhanced processing of attended stimuli waxes and wanes rhythmically, with periods of enhanced and relatively diminished visual processing (and subsequent target detection) alternating at 4 or 8 Hz in a sustained visual attention task. These alternating attentional states occur alongside alternating dynamical states, in which lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), the frontal eye field (FEF), and the mediodorsal pulvinar (mdPul) exhibit different activity and functional connectivity at α, β and γ frequencies-rhythms associated with visual processing, working memory, and motor suppression. To assess whether and how these multiple interacting rhythms contribute to periodicity in attention, we propose a detailed computational model of FEF and LIP. When driven by θ-rhythmic inputs simulating experimentally-observed mdPul activity, this model reproduced the rhythmic dynamics and behavioral consequences of observed attentional states, revealing that the frequencies and mechanisms of the observed rhythms allow for peak sensitivity in visual target detection while maintaining functional flexibility.
Data availability
The current manuscript is a computational study, so no data have been generated for this manuscript. Modelling code is available on the ModelDB open repositories.
Article and author information
Author details
Benjamin Rafael Pittman-Polletta PhD
Funding
National Institutes of Health (P50 MH109429)
- Ian C Fiebelkorn
- Sabine Kastner
- Nancy J Kopell
- Benjamin Rafael Pittman-Polletta PhD
National Institute of Mental Health (RO1-MH64043)
- Ian C Fiebelkorn
- Sabine Kastner
National Eye Institute (RO1-EY017699)
- Ian C Fiebelkorn
- Sabine Kastner
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2023, Aussel et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Interacting rhythms enhance sensitivity of target detection in a fronto-parietal computational model of visual attention
eLife 12:e67684.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.67684
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