Thesis advisor: Scott D. Slotnick / The overarching aim of this dissertation is to examine the role of human motion processing complex, MT+ during sustained perception and attention. MT+ is comprised of sub-region MT, which processes motion in the contralateral visual field (i.e., left hemisphere MT processes motion in the right visual field and vice versa), and sub-region MST, which processes motion in both the contralateral and ipsilateral visual fields. Whereas previous transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) research has provided compelling evidence that region MT+ is necessary for low-level motion processing, Chapter 1 describes an experiment testing whether the sub-region MT is necessary for contralateral low-level motion processing. Chapter 2 describes an experiment that dissociates low-level sensory attentional modulation in MT+ from high-level attentional control processing in the parietal cortex (i.e., during sustained attention). Chapter 3 describes an experiment investigating the role of MT+ during aesthetic processing when viewing visual art. Importantly, this experiment tests whether the aesthetic is tied to not only low-level motion processing in MT+ but also high-level processing in frontal regions. Taken together, the results across the three experiments provide novel evidence for the role of MT+ during low-level motion processing during sustained perception and attention. Moreover, these low-level motion processing effects together with the observed high-level processes in frontal-parietal regions provide neural mechanisms for the cognitive processes of sustained perception and attention. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_101445 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Thakral, Preston P. |
| Publisher | Boston College |
| Source Sets | Boston College |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, thesis |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. |
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