Eldar, E;
Niv, Y;
Cohen, JD;
(2016)
Do You See the Forest or the Tree? Neural Gain and Breadth Versus Focus in Perceptual Processing.
Psychological Science
, 27
(12)
pp. 1632-1643.
10.1177/0956797616665578.
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Abstract
When perceiving rich sensory information, some people may integrate its various aspects, whereas other people may selectively focus on its most salient aspects. We propose that neural gain modulates the trade-off between breadth and selectivity, such that high gain focuses perception on those aspects of the information that have the strongest, most immediate influence, whereas low gain allows broader integration of different aspects. We illustrate our hypothesis using a neural-network model of ambiguous-letter perception. We then report an experiment demonstrating that, as predicted by the model, pupil-diameter indices of higher gain are associated with letter perception that is more selectively focused on the letter’s shape or, if primed, its semantic content. Finally, we report a recognition-memory experiment showing that the relationship between gain and selective processing also applies when the influence of different stimulus features is voluntarily modulated by task demands.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Do You See the Forest or the Tree? Neural Gain and Breadth Versus Focus in Perceptual Processing |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0956797616665578 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616665578 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Social Sciences, Psychology, Multidisciplinary, Psychology, Neural Gain, Perception, Attention, Memory, Neural Network, Pupillometry, Selective Attention, Locus-Coeruleus, Learning-Disabilities, Pupil Diameter, Adaptive Gain, Norepinephrine, Children, Model, Performance, Responses |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1571451 |
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