Attending to the thalamus: Inhibition of return and nasal-temporal asymmetry in the pulvinar

Ayelet Sapir, Robert Rafal, Avishai Henik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Inhibition of return (IOR) is a mechanism whereby the attentional system favors novel locations by inhibiting already scanned ones. An important question is what the neural structures are involved. Recently, we studied a patient with damage to the superior colliculus (SC) and concluded that the SC generates IOR. However, it is possible that IOR is generated beyond the colliculus, for example, by the pulvinar. In this paper we tested three patients with unilateral damage to the pulvinar and demonstrated that the pulvinar is not necessary for IOR generation, providing additional support to the suggestion that the SC generates IOR. In addition, since we used monocular presentation, we were able to furnish behavioral evidence for nasal-temporal asymmetrical representation of visual input in the pulvinar.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)693-697
Number of pages5
JournalNeuroReport
Volume13
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Apr 2002

Keywords

  • Human
  • Inhibition of return
  • Nasal-temporal asymmetry
  • Pulvinar
  • Spatial attention

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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