Interactions between Exogenous Auditory and Visual Spatial Attention

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Schmitt ◽  
Albert Postma ◽  
Edward De Haan
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Inhibition Of Return ◽  
Localization Task ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Cue Validity ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
No Inhibition ◽  
Attention System

Six experiments were carried out to investigate the issue of cross-modality between exogenous auditory and visual spatial attention employing Posner's cueing paradigm in detection, localization, and discrimination tasks. Results indicated cueing in detection tasks with visual or auditory cues and visual targets but not with auditory targets (Experiment 1). In the localization tasks, cueing was found with both visual and auditory targets. Inhibition of return was apparent only in the within-modality conditions (Experiment 2). This suggests that it is important whether the attention system is activated directly (within a modality) or indirectly (between modalities). Increasing the cue validity from 50% to 80% influenced performance only in the localization task (Experiment 4). These findings are interpreted as being indicative for modality-specific but interacting attention mechanisms. The results of Experiments 5 and 6 (up/down discrimination tasks) also show cross-modal cueing but not with visual cues and auditory targets. Furthermore, there was no inhibition of return in any condition. This suggests that some cueing effects might be task dependent.

The Development of Inhibition of Return in Early Infancy

1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Boylan Clohessy ◽  
Michael I. Posner ◽  
Mary K. Rothbart ◽  
Shaun P. Vecera
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Inhibition Of Return ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
The Third ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Attention System ◽  
Movement System

The posterior visual spatial attention system involves a number of separable computations that allow orienting to visual locations. We have studied one of these computations, inhibition of return, in 3-, 4-, 6-, 12-, and 18--month-old infants and adults. Our results indicate that this computation develops rapidly between 3 and 6 months, in conjunction with the ability to program eye movements to specific locations. These findings demonstrate that an attention computation involving the mid-brain eye movement system develops after the third month of life. We suggest how this development might influence the infant's ability to represent and expect visual objects.

Spatial recoding of sound: Pitch-varying auditory cues modulate up/down visual spatial attention

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 150-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irune Fernández-Prieto ◽  
Fátima Vera-Constán ◽  
Joel García-Morera ◽  
Jordi Navarra
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Intraparietal Sulcus ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Pitch Direction

Previous studies suggest the existence of facilitatory effects between, for example, responding upwards/downwards while hearing a high/low-pitched tone, respectively (e.g., Occeli et al., 2009; Rusconi et al., 2006). Neuroimaging research has started to reveal the activation of parietal areas (e.g., the intraparietal sulcus, IPS) during the performance of various pitch-based musical tasks (see Foster and Zatorre, 2010a, 2010b). Since several areas in the parietal cortex (e.g., the IPS; see Chica et al., 2011) are strongly involved in orienting visual attention towards external events, we investigated the possible effects of perceiving pitch-varying stimuli (i.e., ‘ascending’ or ‘descending’ flutter sounds) on the spatial processing of visual stimuli. In a variation of the Posner cueing paradigm (Posner, 1980), participants performed a speeded detection task of a visual target that could appear at one of four different spatial positions (two above and two below the fixation point). Irrelevant ascending (200–700 Hz) or descending (700–200 Hz) flutter sounds were randomly presented 550 ms before the onset of the visual target. According to our results, faster reaction times were observed when the visual target appeared in a position (up/down) that was compatible with the ‘pitch direction’ (ascending or descending) of the previously-presented auditory ‘cuing’ stimulus. Our findings suggest that pitch-varying sounds are recoded spatially, thus modulating visual spatial attention.

The effect of brief auditory non-vocal emotional cues on visual spatial attention

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Neil R. Harrison ◽  
Simon Davies
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Validity Effect ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Cue Validity ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Auditory Cue ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
The Right

It is well established that emotional stimuli can modulate selective spatial attention within the same modality. Recent research has shown that the emotional content of a stimulus in one modality can modify spatial attention in a separate modality (Brosch et al., 2008). So far, this effect has been shown only for emotional stimuli consisting of prosody cues, and it remains unclear how non-vocal emotional auditory cues affect visual spatial attention. The current experiment used a modified spatial cueing design to assess the effects of brief (1000 ms) non-vocal emotional (positive, negative, or neutral) auditory stimuli on visual spatial attention. Participants were required to indicate whether a visual (non-emotional) target appeared either in the left or the right visual field, after hearing a spatially non-predictive peripheral auditory cue. The auditory cue could be on the same side as the visual target (‘valid’ trial) or on the opposite side (‘invalid’ trial). Overall participants were faster to respond to visual targets that appeared on the same side as the auditory cue. Importantly, the magnitude of the cue validity effect (RT to invalid minus RT to valid cue) differed according to the emotional content of the auditory stimulus, but only for visual targets appearing in the right hemifield. Here, for non-vocal auditory signals, the cue validity effect was reduced for negative cues compared to neutral and positive stimuli, showing an opposite pattern to experiments that have reported an enhanced cue validity effect for emotional prosody stimuli (e.g., Brosch et al., 2008).

Head-centred meridian effect on auditory spatial attention orienting

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 937-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Ferlazzo ◽  
Alessandro Couyoumdjian ◽  
Tullia Padovani ◽  
Marta Olivetti Belardinelli
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Endogenous Orienting ◽  
Auditory Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Attention Systems ◽  
Target Locations ◽  
Meridian Effect

Six experiments examined the issue of whether one single system or separate systems underlie visual and auditory orienting of spatial attention. When auditory targets were used, reaction times were slower on trials in which cued and target locations were at opposite sides of the vertical head-centred meridian than on trials in which cued and target locations were at opposite sides of the vertical visual meridian or were not separated by any meridian. The head-centred meridian effect for auditory stimuli was apparent when targets were cued by either visual (Experiments 2, 3, and 6) or auditory cues (Experiment 5). Also, the head-centred meridian effect was found when targets were delivered either through headphones (Experiments 2, 3, and 5) or external loudspeakers (Experiment 6). Conversely, participants showed a visual meridian effect when they were required to respond to visual targets (Experiment 4). These results strongly suggest that auditory and visual spatial attention systems are indeed separate, as far as endogenous orienting is concerned.

Visual Spatial Attention in Migraine Sufferers in Postictal and Interictal Phases: An Event-Related Potential Study

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.H. de Koning ◽  
J.C. Woestenburg ◽  
M. Elton
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Migraine Attack ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Significant Enhancement ◽  
Pathophysiological Mechanism ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Visual Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Spatial

Migraineurs with and without aura (MWAs and MWOAs) as well as controls were measured twice with an interval of 7 days. The first session of recordings and tests for migraineurs was held about 7 hours after a migraine attack. We hypothesized that electrophysiological changes in the posterior cerebral cortex related to visual spatial attention are influenced by the level of arousal in migraineurs with aura, and that this varies over the course of time. ERPs related to the active visual attention task manifested significant differences between controls and both types of migraine sufferers for the N200, suggesting a common pathophysiological mechanism for migraineurs. Furthermore, migraineurs without aura (MWOAs) showed a significant enhancement for the N200 at the second session, indicating the relevance of time of measurement within migraine studies. Finally, migraineurs with aura (MWAs) showed significantly enhanced P240 and P300 components at central and parietal cortical sites compared to MWOAs and controls, which seemed to be maintained over both sessions and could be indicative of increased noradrenergic activity in MWAs.

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