Selective attention to the color and direction of moving stimuli: Electrophysiological correlates of hierarchical feature selection

Lourdes Anllo‐Vento; Hillyard, Steven A. · 1996 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3758/bf03211875

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Summary

This study investigates the electrophysiological correlates of hierarchical feature selection in visual attention, specifically examining how the brain processes color (ventral stream) versus motion direction (dorsal stream). The research addresses whether spatial attention acts as a prerequisite for feature selection and if feature-specific processing is reflected in distinct event-related potential (ERP) components. The authors aim to determine if attention to motion direction elicits a selection negativity (SN) similar to that observed for color, and whether this selection is contingent upon prior spatial selection. The experiment involved twelve subjects who viewed sequentially flashed colored squares producing apparent motion in either vertical or horizontal directions. Stimuli were presented in the left or right visual field. Subjects attended to one visual field and selectively focused on either color (red/blue) or motion direction (vertical/horizontal), detecting infrequent targets defined by slower movement speed. ERPs were recorded from multiple scalp locations. The design allowed for the comparison of stimuli based on attended/unattended location and attended/unattended feature values. Results demonstrated that spatial attention modulated early ERP components, specifically enhancing the amplitude of the P1 (80–120 msec) and N1 (140–190 msec) components for stimuli at the attended location, regardless of the feature being attended. This modulation was consistent with early sensory gain control. Feature selection was associated with a later selection negativity (SN) beginning around 150–200 msec. Crucially, the SN was elicited only by stimuli at the attended location, indicating that feature selection is hierarchically contingent on prior spatial selection. The scalp distribution of the SN differed by feature: color selection produced greater negativity over occipitotemporal sites (ventral stream), while motion selection produced larger amplitudes over temporal and parietal electrodes (dorsal stream). Behavioral data showed faster reaction times and higher accuracy for color targets compared to motion targets. The findings support early-selection theories of attention, positing that spatial attention gates access to higher-level feature processing. The distinct topographical distributions of the SN for color and motion provide electrophysiological evidence for the functional segregation of ventral and dorsal visual streams. The study concludes that visual processing involves sequential stages where spatial selection precedes and facilitates feature-specific analysis, with neural correlates reflecting the anatomical pathways involved in processing specific stimulus properties.

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• attention selective divided