Orienting of Attention

This chapter lays out the anatomical basis for a brain system involved in orienting to sensory stimulation. Orienting involves aligning attention with a source of sensory signals. This may be overt, as in eye movements, or covert, without any movement. Orienting can be manipulated by presenting a cue indicating where in space a person should attend, thereby directing attention to the cued location. The results of behavioral studies of orienting, lesion studies, imaging studies, and cellular and molecular genetic studies are discussed.