The normalization model predicts responses in the human visual cortex during object-based attention

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Author(s)Doostani, Narges
Author(s)Hossein-Zadeh, Gholam-Ali
Author(s)Vaziri-Pashkam, Maryam
Date Accessioned2025-02-20T15:50:57Z
Date Available2025-02-20T15:50:57Z
Publication Date2023-04-26
DescriptionThis article was originally published in eLife. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75726. This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).
AbstractDivisive normalization of the neural responses by the activity of the neighboring neurons has been proposed as a fundamental operation in the nervous system based on its success in predicting neural responses recorded in primate electrophysiology studies. Nevertheless, experimental evidence for the existence of this operation in the human brain is still scant. Here, using functional MRI, we examined the role of normalization across the visual hierarchy in the human visual cortex. Using stimuli form the two categories of human bodies and houses, we presented objects in isolation or in clutter and asked participants to attend or ignore the stimuli. Focusing on the primary visual area V1, the object-selective regions LO and pFs, the body-selective region EBA, and the scene-selective region PPA, we first modeled single-voxel responses using a weighted sum, a weighted average, and a normalization model and demonstrated that although the weighted sum and weighted average models also made acceptable predictions in some conditions, the response to multiple stimuli could generally be better described by a model that takes normalization into account. We then determined the observed effects of attention on cortical responses and demonstrated that these effects were predicted by the normalization model, but not by the weighted sum or the weighted average models. Our results thus provide evidence that the normalization model can predict responses to objects across shifts of visual attention, suggesting the role of normalization as a fundamental operation in the human brain.
SponsorNational Institutes of Health (ZIA-MH002035) - Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Acknowledgements Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam was supported by NIH Intramural Research Program ZIA-MH002035.
CitationDoostani, Narges, Gholam-Ali Hossein-Zadeh, and Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam. “The Normalization Model Predicts Responses in the Human Visual Cortex during Object-Based Attention.” Edited by Marisa Carrasco and Tirin Moore. eLife 12 (April 26, 2023): e75726. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75726.
ISSN2050-084X
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/35826
Languageen_US
PublishereLife
dc.rightsCC0 1.0 Universalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
TitleThe normalization model predicts responses in the human visual cortex during object-based attention
TypeArticle
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