Figure 1.

Computational steps that transform sensory inputs and internal goals into signals for driving spatial attention and action. In steps that are carried out by overlapping populations of neurons, the physical salience (strength) of stimuli is combined with their behavioral relevance to produce a topographic spatial representation (“map”) of the priority and relative priority of each stimulus. This map forms the basis for stimulus selection, which then drives subsequent shifts in attention or orienting action towards the selected stimulus. Shifts of attention and plans to orient to a stimulus both, in turn, influence the behavioral relevance of that stimulus. In green: a new step in the transformation, revealed by electrophysiological recordings in the barn owl OT and consistent with behavioral results following SC inactivation in monkeys and rats.