Perception
Ancient brain ‘radar’ shapes visual perception, study shows
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An evolutionarily ancient midbrain region, the superior colliculus, can independently carry out visual computations long attributed mainly to the cortex, according to a PLOS Biology study. The work suggests that attention-guiding mechanisms with roots more than 500 million years old help separate objects from backgrounds and highlight salient details.
Researchers at MIT have mapped a previously underappreciated brain circuit that alters how visual information is processed depending on an animal’s level of arousal and movement. In a study in mice, they show that the prefrontal cortex sends specialized feedback signals to visual and motor regions, tightening or loosening visual representations according to behavioral state, as reported in Neuron.