How the brain pays attention to what we see
Official title: Probing the role of feature dimension maps in visual cognition
Funded at University of California Santa Barbara · NIH-11109578 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project helps us understand how our brain decides what to focus on when we look at the world around us.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Santa Barbara NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Santa Barbara, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $353,871 |
| NIH project number | 5R01EY035300-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11109578 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This research may involve healthy volunteers or individuals interested in contributing to our understanding of how the brain processes visual information.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking immediate treatment for a specific condition may not directly benefit from this foundational research.
What this research studies
Imagine you're looking for something specific, like a red ladybug in a green bush; your brain quickly figures out what's important to see and what to ignore. This research aims to discover which parts of the brain are involved in guiding our visual attention and how our goals influence what we notice. By studying how the brain processes different visual features, we hope to learn more about how we flexibly interact with our environment. The work focuses on how our brain's top-down goals and the visual features themselves shape brain activity in areas responsible for vision.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Understanding these basic brain processes could eventually lead to better ways to help people with attention difficulties or visual processing challenges.
How similar studies have gone: This work builds upon existing knowledge of visual attention and brain function, aiming to provide new, detailed insights into how different brain regions work together.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sprague, Thomas C — University of California Santa Barbara
- Study coordinator: Sprague, Thomas C
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.