Oscillatory Alpha-Band Mechanisms and the Deployment of Spatial Attention to Anticipated Auditory and Visual Target Locations: Supramodal or Sensory-Specific Control Mechanisms?
Open Access
- 6 July 2011
- journal article
- Published by Society for Neuroscience in Journal of Neuroscience
- Vol. 31 (27), 9923-9932
- https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.4660-10.2011
Abstract
Oscillatory alpha-band activity (8–15 Hz) over parieto-occipital cortex in humans plays an important role in suppression of processing for inputs at to-be-ignored regions of space, with increased alpha-band power observed over cortex contralateral to locations expected to contain distractors. It is unclear whether similar processes operate during deployment of spatial attention in other sensory modalities. Evidence from lesion patients suggests that parietal regions house supramodal representations of space. The parietal lobes are prominent generators of alpha oscillations, raising the possibility that alpha is a neural signature of supramodal spatial attention. Furthermore, when spatial attention is deployed within vision, processing of task-irrelevant auditory inputs at attended locations is also enhanced, pointing to automatic links between spatial deployments across senses. Here, we asked whether lateralized alpha-band activity is also evident in a purely auditory spatial-cueing task and whether it had the same underlying generator configuration as in a purely visuospatial task. If common to both sensory systems, this would provide strong support for “supramodal” attention theory. Alternately, alpha-band differences between auditory and visual tasks would support a sensory-specific account. Lateralized shifts in alpha-band activity were indeed observed during a purely auditory spatial task. Crucially, there were clear differences in scalp topographies of this alpha activity depending on the sensory system within which spatial attention was deployed. Findings suggest that parietally generated alpha-band mechanisms are central to attentional deployments across modalities but that they are invoked in a sensory-specific manner. The data support an “interactivity account,” whereby a supramodal system interacts with sensory-specific control systems during deployment of spatial attention.Keywords
This publication has 62 references indexed in Scilit:
- Spatiotemporal Analysis of Multichannel EEG: CARTOOLComputational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2011
- Anticipatory Attentional Suppression of Visual Features Indexed by Oscillatory Alpha-Band Power Increases:A High-Density Electrical Mapping StudyJournal of Neuroscience, 2010
- Spatial Attention Evokes Similar Activation Patterns for Visual and Auditory StimuliJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2010
- Attentional Gain Control of Ongoing Cortical Speech Representations in a “Cocktail Party”Journal of Neuroscience, 2010
- Uncovering the Neural Signature of Lapsing Attention: Electrophysiological Signals Predict Errors up to 20 s before They OccurJournal of Neuroscience, 2009
- Frontoparietal Cortex Controls Spatial Attention through Modulation of Anticipatory Alpha RhythmsJournal of Neuroscience, 2009
- The Effects of l-theanine on Alpha-Band Oscillatory Brain Activity During a Visuo-Spatial Attention TaskBrain Topography, 2008
- Parietal disruption impairs reflexive spatial attention within and between sensory modalitiesNeuropsychologia, 2007
- The neural circuitry underlying the executive control of auditory spatial attentionBrain Research, 2007
- Nonspatial attentional shifts between audition and vision.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2002