Model based analysis of fMRI-data: Applying the sSoTS framework to the neural basic of preview search.

Mavritsaki, Eirini; Allen, Harriet A.; Humphreys, Glyn W.

Abstract

The current work aims to unveil the neural circuits under- lying visual search over time and space by using a model-based analysis of behavioural and fMRI data. It has been suggested by Watson and Humphreys [31] that the prioritization of new stimuli presented in our visual field can be helped by the active ignoring of old items, a process they termed visual marking. Studies using fMRI link the marking pro- cess with activation in superior parietal areas and the precuneus [4, 18, 27, 26]. Marking has been simulated previously using a neural-level ac- count of search, the spiking Search over Time and Space (sSoTS) model, which incorporates inhibitory as well as excitatory mechanisms to guide visual selection. Here we used sSoTS to help decompose the fMRI signals found in a preview search procedure, when participants search for a new target whilst ignoring old distractors. The time course of activity linked to inhibitory and excitatory processes in the model was used as a regres- sor for the fMRI data. The results showed that different neural networks were correlated with top-down excitation and top-down inhibition in the model, enabling us to fractionate brain regions previously linked to vi- sual marking. We discuss the contribution of model-based analysis for decomposing fMRI data.

Citation

Mavritsaki, E., Allen, H. A., & Humphreys, G. W. (2009). Model based analysis of fMRI-data: Applying the sSoTS framework to the neural basic of preview search. In L. Paletta, & J. K. Tsotsos (Eds.), Attention in Cognitive Systems : 5th International Workshop on Attention in Cognitive Systems, WAPCV 2008, Fira, Santorini, Greece, May 12, 2008 : revised selected papers. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00582-4_10

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Mar 16, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 16, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Issue: 5395
• Series Title: Lecture Notes in Computer Science
• Book Title: Attention in Cognitive Systems : 5th International Workshop on Attention in Cognitive Systems, WAPCV 2008, Fira, Santorini, Greece, May 12, 2008 : revised selected papers
• ISBN: 9783642005817, 9783642005824
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00582-4_10
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1014632
• Publisher URL: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-00582-4_10
• Additional Information: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00582-4_10.