Spatially global effects of feature-based attention in functional subdivisions of human subcortical nuclei

This dataset comprises the source data and accompany code for the publication "Spatially global effects of feature-based attention in functional subdivisions of human subcortical nuclei". This study explores subcortical mechanisms by which attention prioritizes non-spatial features across the visual field, examining the spatially global effects of color-based attention in functional subdivisions of human subcortical nuclei using high-resolution 7T fMRI. Color-based attention selectively modulated BOLD signals as early as in the parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus across the visual field, enhancing both feedforward and feedback connectivity with the primary visual cortex. The deeper layers of the superior colliculus were involved in attentional control of the spatially global effect, while the ventral pulvinar plays a role in coordinating the connectivity between visual areas. Interestingly, enhanced activity to the unattended stimulus across the visual field was associated with reduced activity to the attended stimulus in the visual thalamus but not in cortical regions, supporting a subcortical mechanism of global attentional sampling. These findings reveal distinct roles of subcortical nuclei in feature-based attention and a global attention mechanism in the visual thalamus.The dataset contains data to reproduce the main findings of the study. Raw fMRI data can be requested by contacting the corresponding author Peng Zhang (zhangpeng(AT)ibp.ac.cn).Author list of the related article: Weiru Lin, Chencan Qian, Yan-Yu Zhang, Shang Liu, Xilin Zhang, Fang Fang, Peng Zhang