Top-down specific preparatory activations for selective attention and perceptual expectations

Peñalver, José M. G.; López-García, David; González-García, Carlos; Aguado-López, Blanca; Górriz, J. M.; Ruz, Marı́a

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119960

Cited by 7 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 88 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is consistent with the theory of biased competition, as a reflection of an internal attentional template associated to the relevant category. Preparation is specific to the content of the incoming target to select (González-García et al, 2017; Palenciano et al, 2019a; Peelen & Kastner, 2011; Peñalver et al, 2023; Rajan et al, 2021; Sobrado et al, 2022; Stokes et al, 2009), with a strength of category anticipation increasing at the end of the interval, in a ramping-up fashion, replicating Peñalver and colleagues (2023). Although understanding the implications of this finding requires further research, it could be related to temporal expectations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…An average of 1.58 components per participant (range 1-3) were removed. Then, automatic trial rejection was used to prune the data from other artifacts, using 3 criteria (see López-García et al (2020, 2022) and Peñalver et al (2023) for similar parameters). First, we identified trials with abnormal spectra, removing those deviating from baseline by ± 50 dB in the 0–2 Hz frequency window (sensitive to remaining eye artifacts) or by -100 dB or + 25 dB in 20–40 Hz (sensitive to muscle activity).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Then, to evaluate whether and how the preparatory interval carried information about the target category anticipated, either faces or names, we performed classification analyses separately for High and Low competition blocks. To compare the category-related patterns while avoiding perceptual confounds triggered by the specific shape of the cues, we adopted a cross-classification approach (Kaplan et al, 2015; Peñalver et al, 2023). The classifiers decoding the relevant category were trained and tested in trials where independent sets of cues were employed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We analyzed anticipatory neural activity with univariate (time-frequency) and MVPA approaches. Considering previous findings (Hall-McMaster et al, 2019;Manelis & Reder, 2015;Peelen & Kastner, 2011;Peñalver et al, 2023), we expected that preparatory patterns would dissociate based on the relevant target category, and that this category-specific pattern would be more distinguishable in a high competition context. Also, at the oscillatory level we predicted that the amplitude of preparatory theta power would be enhanced in high competition (Cooper et al, 2017;Van Driel et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Their results showed shared neural codes across both epochs, suggesting that an attentional template similar to the one guiding visual processing was preactivated during the preparation, biasing the competition in favor of stimuli matching this template. More studies have also found preparatory templates associated with relevant target categories (González-García et al, 2016; Peñalver et al, 2023; Ruz & Nobre, 2008) or stimulus features (Stokes et al, 2009) to attend. In a complementary manner, time-frequency analyses have revealed that theta power during the preparation period is associated with anticipating most challenging tasks (Cooper et al, 2017; Van Driel et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Proactive selective attention across competition contexts

Aguado-López,

Palenciano,

Peñalver

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Selective attention is a cognitive function that helps filter out unwanted information. Theories as the biased competition model (Desimone & Duncan, 1995) explain how attentional templates bias processing towards targets in contexts where multiple stimuli compete for resources. However, it is unclear how the anticipation of different levels of competition influences the nature of attentional templates, in a proactive fashion. In this study, we used EEG to investigate how the anticipated demands of attentional selection (either high or low stimuli competition contexts) modulate target-specific preparatory brain activity and its relationship with task performance. To do so, participants performed a sex judgement task in a cue-target paradigm where, depending on the block, target and distractor stimuli appeared simultaneously (high competition) or sequentially (low competition). Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA) showed that, in both competition contexts, there was a preactivation of the target category to select with a ramping-up profile at the end of the preparatory interval. However, cross-classification showed no generalization across competition conditions, suggesting different preparatory representational formats. Notably, time-frequency analyses showed differences between anticipated competition demands, reflecting larger theta band power for high than low competition, which mediated the impact of subsequent stimuli competition on behavioral performance. Overall, our results show that, whereas preactivation of the internal templates associated with the category to select are engaged in advance in both competition contexts, their underlying neural patterns differ. In addition, these codes could not be associated with theta power, suggesting different preparatory processes. The implications of these findings are crucial to increase our understanding of the nature of top-down processes across different contexts.

show abstract