Alpha entrainment is responsible for the attentional blink phenomenon

Abstract

The attentional blink phenomenon is the reduced ability to report a second target (T2) after identifying a first target (T1) in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of stimuli (e.g., letters), which are presented at approximately 10 items per second. Several explanations have been proposed, which focus primarily on cognitive aspects, such as attentional filter-, capacity limitation- and retrieval failure‐processes.Here, we focus on the hypothesis that an entrainment of alpha oscillations (with a frequency of about 10 Hz) is a critical factor for the attentional blink phenomenon. Our hypothesis is based on the fact that item presentation rate in the RSVP typically lies in the alpha frequency range and is motivated by theories assuming an inhibitory function for alpha. We predict that entrainment – during the time window of T2 presentation – is larger for attentional blink (AB) items (when T2 cannot be reported) than for NoAB trials (when T2 cannot be reported).The results support our hypothesis and show that alpha entrainment as measured by the amplitude of the alpha evoked response and the extent of alpha phase concentration is larger for AB than for NoAB trials. Together with the lack of differences in alpha power these findings demonstrate that the differences between AB and NoAB trials – during presentation onset of T2 – are due to an entrainment of alpha phase and not due to an amplitude modulation. Thus, we conclude that alpha entrainment may be considered the critical factor underlying the attentional blink phenomenon.

Alpha phase, temporal attention, and the generation of early event related potentials

“…Our findings are well in line with the idea that alpha plays an important role for temporal attention (Klimesch, 2012;Zauner et al, 2012). In contrast to stimulus evoked processes, attention operates already during the prestimulus period that leads to a phase alignment with the P 1 , most likely reflecting the successful temporal expectation of a stimulus.…”

“…The typical finding is the failure to report T2 in about 50% of the cases if the preceding T1 stimulus could be identified. In a study by Zauner et al (2012) it could be shown that the inability to report T2 is associated with a negative polarity alpha phase entrainment peristimulus to T2. This suggests that a negative polarity of alpha during stimulus presentation (of T2) may be responsible for the failure to report T2 because ongoing alpha is in counter-phase relative to the appearance of the P 1 .…”

Endogenous and Rapid Serial Visual Presentation-induced Alpha Band Oscillations in the Attentional Blink

“…This is in contrast to a recent publication by Zauner et al (2012), which reported a relationship between phase entrainment and the occurrence of an AB. Specifically, Zauner and colleagues found a relationship between the occurrence of an AB and a nonuniform distribution of phase at presentation of T2.…”

“…That is, the ssVEP response is not restricted to the stimulation frequency but may also be evident, sometimes even stronger, in the IAF (Schwab et al, 2006;Gebber, Zhong, Lewis, & Barman, 1999). Zauner et al (2012), however, take a slightly different view on this. They similarly observed that phase-locking responses in an RSVP task were not restricted to the stimulation frequency.…”

Anticipatory alpha phase influences visual working memory performance

“…Interestingly, it has been found that the phase of ongoing alpha band oscillations reflects fluctuations in visual cortical excitability, such that stimuli presented during the peak (maximum amplitude) of the alpha oscillation are better detected than stimuli that appear during the trough (minimum amplitude) (Busch et al, 2009; Mathewson et al, 2009; Zauner et al, 2012). Consistent with this, the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are known to be contingent on oscillatory parameters (Rubens and Zanto, 2012), including the alpha phase when a TMS pulse is applied.…”