“Neural Correlates of Object-Based Shifts of Visuospatial Attention.”

Kevin D. Wilson, Ph.D., Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA 17325

Voluntary shifts of visuospatial attention depend on a top-down attentional control network involving superior frontal and posterior parietal cortices. Distinct aspects of this network are recruited based on the type of attentional shift that is required. For instance, neuroimaging evidence suggests differential parietal lobe involvement when shifting to a spatial location that is defined relative to an observer (i.e., a viewer-centered reference frame) versus shifting to a spatial location that is defined relative to an object (i.e., an object-centered reference frame). Other neuroimaging evidence suggests differential parietal lobe involvement when attention must be actively maintained at an attended location versus shifted to a new location. Here, we wish to clarify the functional neuroanatomy of each of these phenomena by recording brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while healthy volunteers "hold" or "shift" their attention to spatial locations that are defined in "viewer-centered" or "object-centered" reference frames.

Kevin D. Wilson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Gettysburg College
Box 407, McCreary Hall, Room 322
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Phone: 717-337-6186
Fax: 717-337-6172
kwilson@gettysburg.edu