Neural mechanisms for the attention-mediated propagation of conceptual information in the human brain

Acunzo, David; Grignolio, Damiano; Hickey, Clayton · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003018

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Summary

This study investigates the neural mechanisms by which spatial attention facilitates the translation of perceptual information into abstract conceptual representations. While cognitive theories posit that attention gathers information to support downstream processes like concept formation, neuroscientific research has predominantly focused on how concepts guide perception rather than how attention constructs concepts. The authors address this gap by characterizing the neural network responsible for abstracting attended perceptual inputs into semantic and conceptual codes. The research employed two experiments using high-density EEG and concurrent EEG/fMRI recordings. Participants performed a task requiring them to identify the category of a cued target object while ignoring distractors, including visually degraded images and a recognizable distractor. The quality of attentional selection was indexed by the N2pc, an event-related potential component reflecting selective attention. To measure the emergence of conceptual information, the authors used linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to classify object categories from neural activity patterns. Experiment 1 utilized EEG to establish temporal dynamics, while Experiment 2 combined EEG and fMRI to localize the anatomical sources of this information. Crucially, the analysis linked trial-by-trial variance in N2pc amplitude with variance in classification accuracy to determine how attentional depth influences conceptual encoding. The results demonstrated that the amplitude of the target-elicited N2pc positively predicted the emergence of target category information in EEG signals, whereas distractor-elicited N2pc predicted degraded target classification. This indicates that robust attentional selection drives the neural representation of the attended object’s concept. In Experiment 2, correlating N2pc amplitude with fMRI-derived classification accuracy identified three specific brain clusters where attention mediated conceptual propagation: the left inferior parietal lobule/angular gyrus extending to the superior parietal lobule; a right-hemisphere cluster spanning the putamen, globus pallidus, insula, and anterior temporal lobe; and a bilateral cluster in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. These regions showed that variance in attentional selection directly predicted the strength of semantic category representations. The findings identify a specific neural network involving prefrontal, posterior parietal, and anterior insular cortices that plays a key role in the attention-mediated translation of perceptual information into concepts and action plans. This work provides empirical evidence for the theoretical claim that attention supports the acquisition and activation of high-level knowledge, moving beyond the traditional view of attention as merely enhancing sensory perception. By linking temporal indices of attention with spatial maps of conceptual information, the study clarifies how the brain abstracts sensory inputs to support cognition and decision-making.

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• attention selective divided