Detecting Unattended Stimuli Depends on the Phase of Prestimulus Neural Oscillations

Harris, Anthony M.; Dux, Paul E.; Mattingley, Jason B.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3006-17.2018

Cited by 61 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…what phase) our neural oscillations happen to be. As reported by a number of recent studies (Busch et al 2009;Mathewson et al 2009;Sherman et al 2016;Harris et al 2018), our visual detection thresholds notably vary with alpha-band phase. That is, we are able to detect weaker visual stimuli when the stimulus is presented in phase with alpha oscillations (i.e.…”

Section: The Challenge From Neural Phasesupporting

confidence: 81%

Neural phase: a new problem for the modal account of epistemic luck

Bricker

2019

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One of the most widely recognised intuitions about knowledge is that knowing precludes believing truly as a matter of luck. On Pritchard's highly influential modal account of epistemic luck, luckily true beliefs are, roughly, those for which there are many close possible worlds in which the same belief formed in the same way is false. My aim is to introduce a new challenge to this account. Starting from the observation-as documented by a number of recent EEG studies-that our capacity to detect visual stimuli fluctuates with the phase of our neural oscillations, I argue that there can be very close possible worlds in which an actual-world detectable stimulus is undetectable. However, this doesn't diminish our willingness to attribute knowledge in the case that the stimulus is detectable, even when undetectability would result in the same belief formed in the same way being false. As I will argue at length, the modal account appears unable to accommodate this result.

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Section: The Challenge From Neural Phasesupporting

confidence: 81%

Neural phase: a new problem for the modal account of epistemic luck

Bricker

2019

Synthese

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“…Based on our investigation of reaction times, phase coherence is correlated with subsequent response times of the subject, as a signature of perception efficacy. Similarly, Harris et al reported that detection of targets depends upon the low frequency phase (in both attended and unattended locations) 67 . Furthermore, Busch and VanRullen reported that the visual detection threshold is periodic and strongly correlated with the pre-stimulus phase of EEG signals 42 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Attention strengthens across-trial pre-stimulus phase coherence in visual cortex, enhancing stimulus processing

Zareian

Maboudi

Daliri

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Attention selectively routes the most behaviorally relevant information from the stream of sensory inputs through the hierarchy of cortical areas. previous studies have shown that visual attention depends on the phase of oscillatory brain activities. these studies mainly focused on the stimulus presentation period, rather than the pre-stimulus period. Here, we hypothesize that selective attention controls the phase of oscillatory neural activities to efficiently process relevant information. We document an attentional modulation of pre-stimulus inter-trial phase coherence (a measure of deviation between instantaneous phases of trials) of low frequency local field potentials (LFP) in visual area Mt of macaque monkeys. our data reveal that phase coherence increases following a spatial cue deploying attention towards the receptive field of the recorded neural population. We further show that the attentional enhancement of phase coherence is positively correlated with the modulation of the stimulus-induced firing rate, and importantly, a higher phase coherence is associated with a faster behavioral response. these results suggest a functional utilization of intrinsic neural oscillatory activities for an enhanced processing of upcoming stimuli.One of the most important cognitive functions of the mammalian brain is selective attention. Attention selectively routes the most behaviorally relevant information from the stream of sensory inputs through the hierarchy of cortical areas. This allows the brain to make the most efficient use of its limited neural resources and to create appropriate behavioral responses quickly 1 . Attentional influences on neural responses in sensory cortex have been extensively documented; effects which reflect a multitude of aspects of cortical information processing 1-4 . Covertly directing attention towards the receptive field of a neuron in visual cortex enhances the neural responses even in the absence of visual stimulation 5,6 , alters the shape and profile of receptive fields 7-9 , modulates the variability and temporal structure of the neuron's firing patterns 10,11 , modulates inter-neuronal correlations to increase neural discriminability 12,13 and synchronizes neighboring neurons, presumably to better propagate information to downstream areas [14][15][16] .Attention has been suggested to exploit oscillatory neural activities, as well as oscillatory components of local field potentials (LFP), to enhance the efficacy of cortical processing 17-23 . LFPs represent synaptic activities of local cortical neuronal populations 24 . Their oscillations are tightly linked to attention in both low and high frequencies 18,[25][26][27][28][29] . Previous studies have shown that synchronization in the gamma as well as high gamma band

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“…Based on our investigation of reaction times, phase coherence determines subsequent response times of the subject, as a signature of perception efficacy. Similarly, Harris et al reported that detection of targets depends upon the low frequency phase (in both attended and unattended locations) (Harris et al, 2018). Also, Fiebelkorn et al documented that the fronto-parietal network’s low frequency fluctuations coordinates the attentional spatial sampling (Fiebelkorn et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Attention enhances LFP phase coherence in macaque visual cortex, improving sensory processing

Zareian¹,

Maboudi

et al. 2018

Preprint

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24Attention selectively routes the most behaviorally relevant information among the vast 25 pool of sensory inputs through cortical regions. Previous studies have shown that visual 26 attention samples the surrounding stimuli periodically. However, the neural mechanism 27 underlying this sampling in the sensory cortex, and whether the brain actively uses these 28 rhythms, has remained elusive. Here, we hypothesize that selective attention controls the 29 phase of oscillatory synaptic activities to efficiently process the relevant information in 30 the brain. We document an attentional modulation of pre-stimulus inter-trial phase 31 coherence (a measure of deviation between instantaneous phases of trials) at low 32 frequencies in macaque visual area MT. Our data reveal that phase coherence increases 33 when attention is deployed towards the receptive field of the recorded neural population. 34 We further show that the attentional enhancement of phase coherence is positively 35 correlated with the attentional modulation of stimulus induced firing rate, and 36 importantly, a higher phase coherence leads to a faster behavioral response. Our results 37 suggest a functional utilization of intrinsic neural oscillatory activities for better 38 processing upcoming environmental stimuli, generating the optimal behavior. 39 attention | local field potentials | phase coherence | reaction time | visual cortex 40 41 72 (Yamagishi et al., 2003). Although there is prominent evidence on attentional modulation of 73 low frequency amplitude, the role of low frequency phase in attentional processing is yet 74 controversial. 75 The phase of low frequency oscillations modulates local neural activities represented by 76 gamma band activity, which presumably enables distant brain regions to interact (Demiralp et 77 al. , 2007). Some studies have shown that the phase of ongoing neural oscillations is responsible 78 for periodic sampling by visual attention (Busch and VanRullen, 2010; VanRullen et al., 2011). 79Furthermore, the phase of low frequency oscillations facilitates information transfer and neural 80 coding in the brain (Voloh and Womelsdorf, 2016). Therefore, low frequency phase can enable 81 the neural system to prepare for processing upcoming sensory stimuli. 82Pre-stimulus neural activity has been shown to be a determinant of retrieving episodic memory, 83 perception of environmental information and attention-related variability in response speed 84 (Addante et al., 2011; Hanslmayr et al., 2013 Hanslmayr et al., , 2007 Shibata et al., 2008). Interestingly, it has 85 been shown that pre-stimulus brain activity causally determines visual perception (Dugué et 86 al., 2011). In addition, it has been shown that the phase of low frequency oscillations is 87 responsible for this causal relationship (Hanslmayr et al., 2013). Furthermore, attention has 88 been reported to determine the phase of low frequency neural oscillations in order to influence 89 neuronal responses and behavioral responses to external events (Lakatos et al.,...

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Detecting Unattended Stimuli Depends on the Phase of Prestimulus Neural Oscillations

Cited by 61 publications

References 51 publications

Neural phase: a new problem for the modal account of epistemic luck

Neural phase: a new problem for the modal account of epistemic luck

Attention strengthens across-trial pre-stimulus phase coherence in visual cortex, enhancing stimulus processing

Attention enhances LFP phase coherence in macaque visual cortex, improving sensory processing

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