Priority Maps, Featureful Processing, and the Superior Colliculus
Abstract
The priority map has been used to explain how locations are prioritized for attention and behavior. Priority maps provide a test case for how computational models and neural data can be integrated. Focusing on the superior colliculus (SC) as a paradigm neural substrate for priority maps, we raise two questions: (1) What does priority mean computationally? (2) Since priority maps are featureless, how can this be integrated with recent work on feature coding in SC? We argue that the priority map remains computationally unclear because the nature of priority remains unsettled. Given emerging evidence for “featureful” coding within SC, we challenge the priority map’s featureless assumption as applied to SC and suggest an alternative: a featureful priority matrix where feature dimensions remain distinctly represented.
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BibTeX
@misc{wu2026priority,
title = {{Priority Maps, Featureful Processing, and the Superior Colliculus}},
author = {Wayne Wu and Neeraj J. Gandhi and James P. Herman},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/u7frm_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/u7frm_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Priority Maps, Featureful Processing, and the Superior Colliculus
AU - Wayne Wu
AU - Neeraj J. Gandhi
AU - James P. Herman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/19
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/u7frm_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/u7frm_v1/
AB - The priority map has been used to explain how locations are prioritized for attention and behavior. Priority maps provide a test case for how computational models and neural data can be integrated. Focusing on the superior colliculus (SC) as a paradigm neural substrate for priority maps, we raise two questions: (1) What does priority mean computationally? (2) Since priority maps are featureless, how can this be integrated with recent work on feature coding in SC? We argue that the priority map remains computationally unclear because the nature of priority remains unsettled. Given emerging evidence for “featureful” coding within SC, we challenge the priority map’s featureless assumption as applied to SC and suggest an alternative: a featureful priority matrix where feature dimensions remain distinctly represented.
ER -