Neural bases of cross-modal spatial attention: A neural network study

A central issue in cognitive neuroscience is how the brain integrates information from different senses (e.g., visual and tactile) to represent the unity of a external event and plane adaptive behaviour. This process may be favoured by mechanisms of attention in space . Attending to a space location in a specific sensory modality (e.g. tactile), enhances also the processing of information of different modalities (e.g. visual) at the same site. Exogenous attention (driven reflexively by an external cue) is traditionally distinguished from endogenous attention (driven voluntary by expectancy) . Aim of the study is to investigate the neural bases of visual-tactile integration in exogenous and endogenous spatial attention, via a neural network model.