Left-Hemispheric Asymmetry for Object-Based Attention: an ERP Study

Abstract

It has been shown that selective attention enhances the activity in visual regions associated with stimulus processing. The left hemisphere seems to have a prominent role when non-spatial attention is directed towards specific stimulus features (e.g., color, spatial frequency). The present electrophysiological study investigated the time course and neural correlates of object-based attention, under the assumption of left-hemispheric asymmetry. Twenty-nine right-handed participants were presented with 3D graphic images representing the shapes of different object categories (wooden dummies, chairs, structures of cubes) which lacked detail. They were instructed to press a button in response to a target stimulus indicated at the beginning of each run. The perception of non-target stimuli elicited a larger anterior N2 component, which was likely associated with motor inhibition. Conversely, target selection resulted in an enhanced selection negativity (SN) response lateralized over the left occipito-temporal regions, followed by a larger centro-parietal P300 response. These potentials were interpreted as indexing attentional selection and categorization processes, respectively. The standardized weighted low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (swLORETA) source reconstruction showed the engagement of a fronto-temporo-limbic network underlying object-based visual attention. Overall, the SN scalp distribution and relative neural generators hinted at a left-hemispheric advantage for non-spatial object-based visual attention.

Hemispheric Asymmetry in Visual Processing: An ERP Study on Spatial Frequency Gratings

“…This evidence of a left hemispheric advantage is consistent with previous ERP studies on object-based selective attention for shape [22], orientation [46], color [20], as well as local vs. global stimuli [4] and illusory contour detection [17]. More closely, these data recall the leftsided attentional effect for N1 response (100-200 ms) found in a task in which the orientation of spatial frequency gratings was the target feature [47].…”

“…These results seem to suggest a specific involvement of the left occipito-temporal cortex for a conjoined color/ shape processing of objects. Similarly, Orlandi and Proverbio [22] have shown a left-hemispheric selectivity in the ability to discriminate object-shapes, as indexed by the amplitude of SN response. Participants were presented with 3D images of shapes of wooden dummies, chairs, and Shepard cubes displayed in standard or rotated views, in many different orientations.…”

Muscular effort coding in action representation in ballet dancers and controls: Electrophysiological evidence

“…All the video stimuli displayed the maximum peak of effort at 1000 ms (i.e., maximum height or spread of the legs during a jump), thus, as expected, we found a concomitant frontal positivity component (1050-1250 ms) that reached the highest amplitude at approximately ≅ 1140 ms. This positivity was named P300 after the family of positive endogenous components (P3) classically associated with the updating of the mental representation induced by incoming stimuli (Polich, 2007), as well as target recognition (Orlandi et al, 2019a(Orlandi et al, , 2019b, and categorization (Proverbio et al, 2015). It is well-known in the literature that the P3 components can be modulated by attention orientation, frequency, and novelty of the stimulus (Azizian et al, 2006;Picton, 1992), in terms of amplitude and scalp distribution (i.e., centroparietal P3 response to infrequent targets).…”

From Correlational Signs to Markers. Current Trends in Neuroelectric Research on Visual Attentional Processing

“…Last but not least, a small collection of three additional papers also directly assessed ERP manifestations of visual attentional processing with their brain area localizations either with both single dipole (e.g., D’Angiulli et al) [ 50 ] and distributed swLORETA source modeling (e.g., Orlandi and Proverbio) [ 51 ] or with hemodynamic fMRI data (e.g., Morgan et al) [ 52 ].…”

“…Further emphasizing ERP-related research on brain networks subserving visual attention, the study by Andrea Orlandi and Alice Mado Proverbio [ 51 ] provided evidence on the time course and activity in the left hemisphere of the brain underlying object-based attention. They recorded both the behavioral and ERP responses to 3D graphic images falling into different object categories (e.g., wooden dummies, chairs, structures of cubes) posing alternatively as targets and nontargets in separate runs of a selection task.…”