Abstract: The brain is overwhelmed by sensory inputs all the time; today more than ever we are constantly bombarded by information overflow. A major cognitive function to deal with these challenges is selective attention, which enables us to focus on something behaviorally important while ignoring other stimuli. Neurophysiological studies of selective attention, using nonhuman primates (monkeys), have given rise to three competing views about how selective attention biases sensory processing. In this talk, I will explain what are these three scenarios, and how they can be described in a unifying framework implemented in a neural circuit model.

 

Bio: Xiao-Jing Wang is Professor of Neurobiology, adjunct professor of Physics and Psychology, and director of the Swartz Program in Theoretical Neurobiology at Yale University. He obtained his Ph. D. degree in Theoretical Physics at the University of Brussels in 1987, when he changed his field of research to Computational Neuroscience. He uses theory and biophysically realistic neural circuit modeling to study the brain mechanisms of cognitive functions, especially decision-making. He has published over 90 papers in Nature Neuroscience, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Neuron and other esteemed journals.