Abstract

Attention is associated with improved performance on perceptual tasks and changes in the way that neurons in the visual system respond to sensory stimuli. While we now have a greater understanding of the way different behavioural and stimulus conditions modulate the responses of neurons in different cortical areas, it has proven difficult to identify the neuronal mechanisms responsible for these changes and establish a strong link between attention-related modulation of sensory responses and changes in perception. Recent conceptual and technological advances have enabled progress and hold promise for the future. This chapter focuses on newly established links between attention-related modulation of visual responses and bottom-up sensory processing, how attention relates to interactions between neurons, insights from simultaneous recordings from groups of cells, and how this knowledge might lead to greater understanding of the link between the effects of attention on sensory neurons and perception.