Attention units in the auditory cortex.

In the course of examining single unit responses from the cortex of unrestrained and unanesthetized cats, we have come upon a population of cells that appears to be sensitive to auditory stimuli only if the cat "pays attention" to the sound source. We have described these responses, since they have not been previously reported and since they illustrate an important difference between the information which can be gleaned from experiments of this type and that obtained in the usual "acute" microelectrode experiment.