CAREER: Neural Basis of Visuospatial Attention and Working Memory

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to elucidate the neural mechanisms of visual attention and working memory. Carrying out even the most mundane tasks requires that relevant sensory information be selectively processed and remembered. Attention and working memory are two fundamental and related mental operations that are frequently called upon during goal-directed behavior. The neural basis of these two forms of cognition is largely unknown; much of what is known consists of localized neurophysiological correlates within the human and nonhuman primate brain. These correlates indicate, for example, that individual neurons within the frontal lobe exhibit persistent activation in relation to the maintenance of task information during working-memory tasks. These persistent signals are also associated with the preparation of eye movements, suggesting that motor preparation per se, and the neural circuits underlying motor preparation, may provide the mechanism for visual attention and working memory. In the current project, the PI will examine the causal role of persistent, eye-movement-related activity in frontal cortex in driving visual attention and visual working memory. To achieve this, the PI will employ state-of-the-art neurophysiological, neuropharmacological and psychophysical methods in behaving nonhuman primates. This project is crucial for understanding how sensory information is regulated during complex, adaptive behavior by the primate brain, and is pivotal for establishing a neurophysiological basis of cognition. This research project also involves an effort to develop an optimal undergraduate and graduate curriculum in integrative neuroscience, a field that necessarily involves a broad spectrum of disciplines. The project also includes an aggressive effort to recruit talented underrepresented minority undergraduates from other institutions to participate in summer research activities and to apply for graduate studies in the neurosciences.