A monkey attends to a moving stimulus left of fixation then to a stationary stimulus right of fixation. If one were recording MT neuronal activity, it would reveal that _____.
A) the neuron preferentially responding to the left stimulus is inactive when attending to the right stimulus
B) the neuron preferentially responding to the left stimulus is unaffected by attention to the right stimulus
C) the receptive field associated with the neuron responding to the left stimulus shrinks when attention shifts to the right stimulus
D) the receptive field associated with the neuron responding to the left stimulus shifts right when attention shifts to the right stimulus

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

CNeurons in the MT (middle temporal) area of the brain are known to be highly sensitive to motion and the direction of motion. When a monkey shifts its attention from a moving stimulus on the left to a stationary stimulus on the right, the neuron that preferentially responds to the left stimulus would become inactive, as it is no longer processing motion in its preferred direction or location (A). Additionally, attention can modulate the size of receptive fields, often leading to a shrinking of the receptive field when attention is directed away from the neuron's preferred stimulus or location, making option (C) also correct. This is because attention can enhance the neuron's responsiveness to stimuli within its receptive field by effectively reducing the influence of stimuli outside the focus of attention.

A Monkey Attends to a Moving Stimulus Left of Fixation