Distinct roles of theta and alpha oscillations in the involuntary capture of goal-directed attention

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

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.008

Cited by 50 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the present study, following the display of the distractor, alpha power was lower on the cluster contralateral to the previously rewarded distractor, compared to when a novel distractor was displayed. The observed effects are thus in line with attentional capture and greater visual processing of the reward-associated distractor (see also Harris et al, 2017). Given that these modulations were only observed following the rewarded distractor cue, results cannot be accounted for as reflecting WM maintenance processes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Value-driven attentional capture is modulated by the contents of working memory: An EEG study

Hinault

Blacker

Gormley

et al. 2018

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Attention and working memory (WM) have previously been shown to interact closely when sensory information is being maintained. However, when non-sensory information is maintained in WM, the relationship between WM and sensory attention may be less strong. In the current study, we used electroencephalography to evaluate whether value-driven attentional capture (i.e., allocation of attention to a task-irrelevant feature previously associated with a reward) and its effects on either sensory or non-sensory WM performance might be greater than the effects of salient, non-reward-associated stimuli. In a training phase, 19 participants learned to associate a color with reward. Then, participants were presented with squares and encoded their locations into WM. Participants were instructed to convert the spatial locations either to another type of sensory representation or to an abstract, relational type of representation. During the WM delay period, task-irrelevant distractors, either previously-rewarded or non-rewarded, were presented, with a novel color distractor in the other hemifield. The results revealed lower alpha power and larger N2pc amplitude over posterior electrode sides contralateral to the previously rewarded color, compared to ipsilateral. These effects were mainly found during relational WM, compared to sensory WM, and only for the previously rewarded distractor color, compared to a previous non-rewarded target color or novel color. These effects were associated with modulations of WM performance. These results appear to reflect less capture of attention during maintenance of specific location information, and suggest that value-driven attentional capture can be mitigated as a function of the type of information maintained in WM.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Value-driven attentional capture is modulated by the contents of working memory: An EEG study

Hinault

Blacker

Gormley

et al. 2018

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Steeper CTF slopes were observed for contingent as compared to non-contingent cues in the late time window defined in the alpha-based BDM analysis. This observation contrasts with a recent study by Harris and colleagues (Harris, Dux, Jones, & Mattingley, 2017) who showed that alpha-band oscillations were most strongly associated with attentional processes related to contingent cues, but not to non-contingent cues, whereas theta band activity (4-8 Hz) was associated with capture of both cue types, with stronger effects for contingent cues. However, Harris and colleagues investigated alpha and theta oscillatory activity as a function of early attentional capture, focusing on early effects of attention following cue presentation.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…As such, given the early onset of alpha-based modulations to both contingent and non-contingent cues, it appears that modulations of alpha activity may also reflect processes that are directly linked to early, involuntary bottom-up capture. The discrepancy between the current results and those observed by Harris and colleagues (Harris et al, 2017) is not immediately clear, but may be attributable to different types of analyses used to study spatial attention.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Multivariate analysis of EEG activity indexes contingent and non-contingent attentional capture

Munneke

Fahrenfort²,

Sutterer

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is well known that salient yet irrelevant singleton can capture attention, even when this is inconsistent with the current goals of the observer (Theeuwes, 1992;. Others however have claimed that capture is critically contingent on the goals of the observer: Capture is strongly modulated (or even eliminated) when the irrelevant singleton does not match the target-defining properties (Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992). There has been a long-standing debate on whether attentional capture can be explained by goal-driven and/or stimulus-driven accounts. Here, we shed further light on this phenomenon by using EEG activity (raw EEG and alpha power) to provide a time-resolved index of attentional orienting. Participants searched for a target defined by a pre-specified color. The search display was preceded by a singleton cue that either matched the color of the upcoming target (contingent cues), or that appeared in an irrelevant color (non-contingent cues). Multivariate analysis of raw EEG and alpha power revealed preferential tuning to the location of both contingent and non-contingent cues, with a stronger bias towards contingent than non-contingent cues. The time course of these effects, however, depended on the neural signal. Raw EEG data revealed attentional orienting towards the cue early on in the trial (>156 ms), while alpha power revealed sustained spatial selection in the cued locations at a later moment in the trial (>250 ms). Moreover, while raw EEG showed stronger capture by contingent cues during this early time window, the advantage for contingent cues arose during a later time window in alpha band activity. Thus, our findings suggest that raw EEG activity and alpha-band power tap into distinct neural processes that index movements of covert spatial attention. Both signals provide clear neural evidence that both contingent and non-contingent cues can capture attention, and that this process is robustly shaped by the target-defining properties in the current block of trials.

show abstract

“…Previous studies have demonstrated the functional significance of alpha oscillations which have been associated with post stroke subacute clinical status, motor performance and functional recovery (Dubovik et al, ; Kawano et al, ; Westlake et al, ). Furthermore, studies have reported alpha oscillations are associated with attention, memory, motor learning and performance (Harris, Dux, Jones, & Mattingley, ; Jensen, Gelfand, Kounios, & Lisman, ; Mottaz et al, ; Pollok, Boysen, & Krause, ). As ischemic lesions result in dysfunction in surviving neural networks, it is unsurprising that alpha oscillations contribute to neuroplastic responses which underpin anodal tDCS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroplasticity and network connectivity of the motor cortex following stroke: A transcranial direct current stimulation study

Hordacre

Moezzi

Ridding

2018

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that has potential for clinical utility in neurorehabilitation. However, recent evidence indicates that the responses to tDCS are highly variable. This study investigated whether electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of functional connectivity of the target network were associated with the response to ipsilesional anodal tDCS in stroke survivors. Ten chronic stroke patients attended two experimental sessions in a randomized cross-over trial and received anodal or sham tDCS. Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to quantify change in corticospinal excitability following tDCS. At the beginning of each session, functional connectivity was estimated using the debiased-weighted phase lag index from EEG recordings at rest. Magnetic resonance imaging identified lesion location and lesion volume. Partial least squares regression identified models of connectivity which maximally accounted for variance in anodal tDCS responses. Stronger connectivity of a network with a seed approximating the stimulated ipsilesional motor cortex, and clusters of electrodes approximating the ipsilesional parietal cortex and contralesional frontotemporal cortex in the alpha band (8-13 Hz) was strongly associated with a greater increase of corticospinal excitability following anodal tDCS. This association was not observed following sham stimulation. Addition of a structural measure(s) of injury (lesion volume) provided an improved model fit for connectivity between the seed electrode and ipsilesional parietal cortex, but not the contralesional frontotemporal cortex. TDCS has potential to greatly assist stroke rehabilitation and functional connectivity appears a robust and specific biomarker of response which may assist clinical translation of this therapy.

show abstract

Distinct roles of theta and alpha oscillations in the involuntary capture of goal-directed attention

Cited by 50 publications

References 80 publications

Value-driven attentional capture is modulated by the contents of working memory: An EEG study

Value-driven attentional capture is modulated by the contents of working memory: An EEG study

Multivariate analysis of EEG activity indexes contingent and non-contingent attentional capture

Neuroplasticity and network connectivity of the motor cortex following stroke: A transcranial direct current stimulation study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About