Action–based mechanisms of attention

TLDR

Actions that affect the external world must be spatiotopically represented in the brain, which can encode space in many forms but we argue that actions are represented in action‑centred space defined by cellular activity. The study argues that multiple task‑relevant actions can be evoked simultaneously. The authors review evidence for action‑based inhibitory mechanisms that select targets from competing distractors. The authors find that actions are represented in action‑centred space defined by cellular activity, that reaching encodes object location as direction and distance from the hand to the target, and that efficient selection processes linking vision and action have evolved.

Abstract

Actions, which have effects in the external world, must be spatiotopically represented in the brain. The brain is capable of representing space in many different forms (e.g. retinotopic–, environment–, head– or shoulder–centred), but we maintain that actions are represented in action–centred space, meaning that, at the cellular level, the direction of movement is defined by the activity of cells. In reaching, for example, object location is defined as the direction and distance between the origin of the hand and the target. Most importantly, we argue that more than one task–relevant action can be evoked at any moment in time. Therefore, highly efficient selection processes that accurately link vision and action have had to evolve. Research is reviewed which supports the notion of action–based inhibitory mechanisms that select the target from competing distractors.