Exploring the temporal dynamics of inhibition of return using steady-state visual evoked potentials

Abstract

Inhibition of return is characterized by delayed responses to previously attended locations when the interval between stimuli is long enough. The present study employed steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) as a measure of attentional modulation to explore the nature and time course of input-and output-based inhibitory cueing mechanisms that each slow response times at previously stimulated locations under different experimental conditions. The neural effects of behavioral inhibition were examined by comparing post-cue SSVEPs between cued and uncued locations measured across two tasks that differed only in the response modality (saccadic or manual response to targets). Grand averages of SSVEP amplitudes for each condition showed a reduction in amplitude at cued locations in the window of 100-500 ms post-cue, revealing an early, short-term decrease in the responses of neurons that can be attributed to sensory adaptation, regardless of response modality. Because primary visual cortex has been found to be one of the major sources of SSVEP signals, the results suggest that the SSVEP modulations observed were caused by input-based inhibition that occurred in V1, or visual areas earlier than V1, as a consequence of reduced visual input activity at previously cued locations. No SSVEP modulations were observed in either response condition late in the cue-target interval, suggesting that neither late input-nor output-based IOR modulates SSVEPs. These findings provide further electrophysiological support for the theory of multiple mechanisms contributing to behavioral cueing effects.

Intracortical recordings reveal Vision-to-Action cortical gradients driving human exogenous attention

“…A recent theoretical model based on the known architecture of frontoparietal cortical networks and on their anatomical and functional asymmetries 41 , proposed that IOR, that arises from a noise-increasing reverberation propagation of activity within priority maps of the frontoparietal circuit linking frontal eye field (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) 42 . Other theories proposed that IOR might occur early, over perceptual neural pathways through the reduction of stimulus salience around a previously attended location 43 , or due to sensory adaptation 44 or habituation 45 . IOR was suggested to occur also later in processing, involving motor/decision circuits, in the form of a bias against responses toward previously attended spatial locations 43 , motor habituation 45 or an oculomotor activation signal 46 .…”

Intracortical recordings reveal vision-to-action cortical gradients driving human exogenous attention

“…A recent theoretical model 41 based on the known architecture of frontoparietal cortical networks and on their anatomical and functional asymmetries 42 proposed that IOR arises from a noise-increasing reverberation of activity within priority maps of the frontoparietal circuit linking frontal eye field (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Other theories proposed that IOR might occur early, over perceptual neural pathways through the reduction of stimulus salience around a previously attended location 43 , or due to sensory adaptation 44 or habituation 45 . IOR was suggested to occur also later in processing, involving motor/decision circuits, in the form of a bias against responses toward previously attended spatial locations 43 , motor habituation 45 or an oculomotor activation signal 46 .…”