Probing mechanisms of visual spatial attention in mice

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Anderson Speed, Georgia Institute of Technology; Bilal Haider, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-09-28
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2021.07.009
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCES
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 10
• Start Page: 822
• End Page: 836
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; STATE; CORTICAL ACTIVITY; NEURONS; NEURAL DYNAMICS; Neurosciences; NORMALIZATION; BEHAVIOR; Neurosciences & Neurology; Science & Technology; CIRCUITS; MODULATION; CORTEX; LOCOMOTION

Abstract

The role of spatial attention for visual perception has been thoroughly studied in primates, but less so in mice. Several behavioral tasks in mice reveal spatial attentional effects, with similarities to observations in primates. Pairing these tasks with large-scale, cell-type-specific techniques could enable deeper access to underlying mechanisms, and help define the utility and limitations of resolving attentional effects on visual perception and neural activity in mice. In this Review, we evaluate behavioral and neural evidence for visual spatial attention in mice; assess how specializations of the mouse visual system and behavioral repertoire impact interpretation of spatial attentional effects; and outline how several measurement and manipulation techniques in mice could precisely test and refine models of attentional modulation across scales.