Shifts of Visual Spatial Attention Modulate a Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential
Matthew Belmonte
Cognitive Brain Research 6(4):295-307 (April 1998)
Address for correspondence: mkb4@Cornell.edu
ABSTRACT: Although the effects of static allocations of visual spatial
attention have been investigated using event-related potentials, most studies
of shifts in visual spatial attention have been limited to behavioural
measures. This study applied electroencephalographic measures to shifts in
visual spatial attention in an effort to elucidate the time courses of such
shifts. Using a custom-developed steady-state evoked potential analysis
system, we analysed amplitude changes in phase-locked and non-phase-locked EEG
responses to rapid, periodic visual stimulation during a behavioural task that
required rapid, repetitive shifts in visual spatial attention. This analysis
revealed a transient increase in phase-locked amplitude, in the interval
0-300ms post-stimulus, contralateral to the visual hemifield in which an
attended target appeared. The magnitude of this increase varied with the
length of the interval since the previous shift. In addition, by about 600ms
post-stimulus, phase-locked amplitude increased in the hemisphere contralateral
to the newly attended visual hemifield and decreased in the ipsilateral
hemisphere. In the case of long inter-target intervals, phase-locked amplitude
increased in the right hemisphere regardless of the laterality of the target.
Non-phase-locked amplitude exhibited a complementary pattern of modulation: it
decreased contralaterally to the newly attended visual hemifield and increased
ipsilaterally. These components may be electrophysiological concomitants of
both transient and long-lasting alterations in neural function that implement
shifts in visual spatial attention. In particular, we suggest that they may
reflect orienting to a target stimulus, and reorienting to a cued location.
CITED IN PUBLICATIONS BY OTHERS:
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CITED IN MY OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
- Belmonte MK, Yurgelun-Todd DA. Anatomic dissociation of selective and suppressive processes in visual attention. NeuroImage 19(1):180-189 (May 2003).
- Belmonte MK, Yurgelun-Todd DA. Functional anatomy of impaired selective attention and compensatory processing in autism. Cognitive Brain Research 17(3):651-664 (October 2003).