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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.01.11.523664

Top-down control of exogenous attentional selection is mediated by beta coherence in prefrontal cortex

Dubey, A.·Markowitz, D.·Pesaran, B.
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Abstract

Salience-driven exogenous and goal-driven endogenous attentional selection are two distinct forms of attention that guide selection of task-irrelevant and task-relevant targets in primates. During conflict i.e, when salience and goal each favor the selection of different targets, endogenous selection of the task-relevant target relies on top-down control. Top-down attentional control mechanisms enable selection of the task-relevant target by limiting the influence of sensory information. Although the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is known to mediate top-down control, the neuronal mechanisms of top-down control of attentional selection are poorly understood. Here, using a two-target free-choice luminance-reward selection task, we demonstrate that visual-movement neurons and not visual neurons or movement neurons encode exogenous and endogenous selection. We then show that coherent-beta activity selectively modulates mechanisms of exogenous selection specifically during conflict and consequently may support top-down control. These results reveal the VM-neuron-specific network mechanisms of attentional selection and suggest a functional role for beta-frequency coherent neural dynamics in the modulation of sensory communication channels for the top-down control of attentional selection.

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Dubey, A., Markowitz, D., Pesaran, B.. 2023-01-13. Top-down control of exogenous attentional selection is mediated by beta coherence in prefrontal cortex. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.11.523664

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