scholarly journals Orienting auditory attention in time: Lateralized alpha power reflects spatio-temporal filtering

NeuroImage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 228 ◽  
pp. 117711
Author(s):  
Malte Wöstmann ◽  
Burkhard Maess ◽  
Jonas Obleser
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Wöstmann ◽  
Burkhard Maess ◽  
Jonas Obleser

AbstractThe deployment of neural alpha (8-12 Hz) lateralization in service of spatial attention is well-established: Alpha power increases in the cortical hemisphere ipsilateral to the attended hemifield, and decreases in the contralateral hemisphere, respectively. Much less is known about humans’ ability to deploy such alpha lateralization in time, and to thus exploit alpha power as a spatio-temporal filter. Here we show that spatially lateralized alpha power does signify - beyond the direction of spatial attention - the distribution of attention in time and thereby qualifies as a spatio-temporal attentional filter. Participants (N = 20) selectively listened to spoken numbers presented on one side (left vs right), while competing numbers were presented on the other side. Key to our hypothesis, temporal foreknowledge was manipulated via a visual cue, which was either instructive and indicated the to-be-probed number position (70% valid) or neutral. Temporal foreknowledge did guide participants’ attention, as they recognized numbers from the to-be-attended side more accurately following valid cues. In the magnetoencephalogram (MEG), spatial attention to the left versus right side induced lateralization of alpha power in all temporal cueing conditions. Modulation of alpha lateralization at the 0.8-Hz presentation rate of spoken numbers was stronger following instructive compared to neutral temporal cues. Critically, we found stronger modulation of lateralized alpha power specifically at the onsets of temporally cued numbers. These results suggest that the precisely timed hemispheric lateralization of alpha power qualifies as a spatio-temporal attentional filter mechanism susceptible to top-down behavioural goals.


eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Cornelissen ◽  
Seong-Eun Kim ◽  
Patrick L Purdon ◽  
Emery N Brown ◽  
Charles B Berde

Electroencephalogram (EEG) approaches may provide important information about developmental changes in brain-state dynamics during general anesthesia. We used multi-electrode EEG, analyzed with multitaper spectral methods and video recording of body movement to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of brain activity in 36 infants 0–6 months old when awake, and during maintenance of and emergence from sevoflurane general anesthesia. During maintenance: (1) slow-delta oscillations were present in all ages; (2) theta and alpha oscillations emerged around 4 months; (3) unlike adults, all infants lacked frontal alpha predominance and coherence. Alpha power was greatest during maintenance, compared to awake and emergence in infants at 4–6 months. During emergence, theta and alpha power decreased with decreasing sevoflurane concentration in infants at 4–6 months. These EEG dynamic differences are likely due to developmental factors including regional differences in synaptogenesis, glucose metabolism, and myelination across the cortex. We demonstrate the need to apply age-adjusted analytic approaches to develop neurophysiologic-based strategies for pediatric anesthetic state monitoring.


Author(s):  
Marco Congendo ◽  
Fernando H. Lopes da Silva

Event-related potentials (ERPs) can be elicited by a variety of stimuli and events in diverse conditions. This chapter covers the methodology of analyzing and quantifying ERPs in general. Basic models (additive, phase modulation and resetting, potential asymmetry) that account for the generation of ERPs are discussed. The principles and requirements of ensemble time averaging are presented, along with several univariate and multivariate methods that have been proposed to improve the averaging procedure: wavelet decomposition and denoising, spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal filtering. We emphasize basic concepts of principal component analysis, common spatial pattern, and blind source separation, including independent component analysis. We cover practical questions related to the averaging procedure: overlapping ERPs, correcting inter-sweep latency and amplitude variability, alternative averaging methods (e.g., median), and estimation of ERP onset. Some specific aspects of ERP analysis in the frequency domain are surveyed, along with topographic analysis, statistical testing, and classification methods.


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