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Paper   IPM / Cognitive Sciences / 7599
School of Cognitive Sciences
  Title:   Attention enhances Adaptation to Illusory Lines
  Author(s): 
1.  L. Montaser kouhsari
2.  R. Rajimehr
  Status:   In Proceedings
  Proceeding: Attention and Performance Meeting
  Year:  2002
  Supported by:  IPM
  Abstract:
Selective visual attention modulates neuronal activation in different cortical areas. This type of neuronal modulation could be happened in the early stages of visual processing like the primary visual cortex. One way to demonstrate the attentional modulation in low-level cortical areas would be visual adaptation. This study investigated the effect of visual attention on selective orientation adaptation to illusory lines. The stimuli contained an oriented illusory line induced by two line gratings abutting each other with a phase shift. The orientation of real grating lines was changed repeatedly during the adaptation period to minimize the effect of lower level adaptations. Poor attentional condition was made by presenting a dual task at the fixation point during the adaptation period. Results showed that orientation selective adaptation to illusory lines decreased in the presence of competing task. Since visual area V2 seems to be the first stage in the processing of illusory lines, we could conclude that selective attention could modulate the activation of V2 neurons.


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