A Feedback Model of Attention Explains the Diverse Effects of Attention on Neural Firing Rates and Receptive Field Structure
Fig 6
Effect of attention on response curves as a function of stimulus intensity.
Top row (A): Similarly to Heeger & Reynolds’ normalization model of attention, response curves become more similar to a response gain or a contrast gain (respectively) when the attentional field is made smaller or larger in comparison to RF size. Middle row (B): In addition, the model predicts that attentional effects should shift from a response gain (first panel) to a contrast gain (second panel), and might also produce crossing curves (third panel), as the focus of attention shifts away from the center of the stimulus and of the cell’s RF. Note that the contrast-gain effect persists (though with decreasing magnitude) as attention shifts further away from the RF, due to the wide range of feedback connections between top and input layers. Compare with Fig 5 of [7].