Neural mechanisms: There is a large literature on how predictive cues, in the absence of eye movements, change neural activity. Cues modulate sensory-evoked responses in regions of visual cortex that represent cued locations, objects, and features (Brefczynski & DeYoe,
1999; Corbetta, Miezin, Dobmeyer, Shulman, & Petersen,
1990,
1991; Heinze et al.,
1994; Maunsell & Cook,
2002; Shulman et al.,
1999; Yantis et al.,
2002). ERP studies have shown that the modulation can occur within 100 ms of the presentation of the cued stimulus (Luck et al.,
1994; Mangun & Hillyard,
1990,
1991; Martinez et al.,
1999; Voorhis & Hillyard,
1977). Moreover, regions of visual cortex show modulations in response to an attended cue before the presentation of the stimulus (Chawla, Rees, & Friston,
1999; Gandhi, Heeger, & Boynton,
1999; Giesbrecht, Weissman, Woldorff, & Mangun,
2006; Hopfinger, Buonocore, & Mangun,
2000; Kastner, Pinsk, De Weerd, Desimone, & Ungerleider,
1999; Ress, Backus, & Heeger,
2000), but also several high-order areas do as well (IPS; FEF; superior parietal lobules, SPL; prefrontal cortex, PFC; Corbetta, Kincade, Ollinger, McAvoy, & Shulman,
2000; Giesbrecht et al.,
2003; Hopfinger et al.,
2000; Kastner, De Weerd, Desimone, & Ungerleider,
1998; Kelley, Serences, Giesbrecht, & Yantis,
2008; Slagter et al.,
2007; Yantis et al.,
2002). For a thorough review on the effects of cues on neural activity, see Carrasco (
2011), and for the relationship between cue-related neural activity and theoretical models, see Eckstein, Peterson, Pham, and Droll (
2009).