Dynamic changes in effective connectivity characterized by variable parameter regression and Kalman filtering.

Attention to visual motion can increase the responsiveness of the motion-selective cortical area V5 and the posterior parietal cortex. We addressed attentional modulation of effective connectivity using variable parameter regression and functional magnetic resonance imaging. We present data from a single subject scanned under identical stimulus conditions (visual motion) while varying only the attentional component of the task. Variable parameter regression of the influence of V5 on PP revealed increased effective connectivity during attention to visual motion. With this dynamic measure of effective connectivity we were able to make inferences about the source of modulation by looking for regions that predicted the observed changes in connectivity. Using an ordinary regression analysis, we showed that activity in the prefrontal cortex could explain these changes and was sufficient to account for these modulatory influences on connections in the dorsal visual pathway.