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

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Wöstmann ◽  
Burkhard Maess ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Presentation Rate ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Temporal Filtering ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Temporal Filter ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Filter Mechanism ◽  
Attentional Filter

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.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal dynamics of auditory attention synchronize with speech

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (14) ◽  
pp. 3873-3878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Wöstmann ◽  
Björn Herrmann ◽  
Burkhard Maess ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Alpha Power

Attention plays a fundamental role in selectively processing stimuli in our environment despite distraction. Spatial attention induces increasing and decreasing power of neural alpha oscillations (8–12 Hz) in brain regions ipsilateral and contralateral to the locus of attention, respectively. This study tested whether the hemispheric lateralization of alpha power codes not just the spatial location but also the temporal structure of the stimulus. Participants attended to spoken digits presented to one ear and ignored tightly synchronized distracting digits presented to the other ear. In the magnetoencephalogram, spatial attention induced lateralization of alpha power in parietal, but notably also in auditory cortical regions. This alpha power lateralization was not maintained steadily but fluctuated in synchrony with the speech rate and lagged the time course of low-frequency (1–5 Hz) sensory synchronization. Higher amplitude of alpha power modulation at the speech rate was predictive of a listener’s enhanced performance of stream-specific speech comprehension. Our findings demonstrate that alpha power lateralization is modulated in tune with the sensory input and acts as a spatiotemporal filter controlling the read-out of sensory content.

scholarly journals Hemispheric asymmetry of globus pallidus relates to alpha modulation in reward-related attentional tasks

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Mazzetti ◽  
T. Staudigl ◽  
T. R. Marshall ◽  
J. M. Zumer ◽  
S. J. Fallon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Globus Pallidus ◽  
Alpha Activity ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Alpha Band ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Subcortical Regions

AbstractWhile subcortical structures like the basal ganglia have been widely explored in relation to motor control, recent evidence suggests that their mechanisms extend to the domain of attentional switching. We here investigated the subcortical involvement in reward related top-down control of visual alpha-band oscillations (8 – 13 Hz), which have been consistently linked to mechanisms supporting the allocation of visuo-spatial attention. Given that items associated with contextual saliency (e.g. monetary reward or loss) attract attention, it is not surprising that the acquired salience of visual items further modulates. The executive networks controlling such reward-dependent modulations of oscillatory brain activity have yet to be fully elucidated. Although such networks have been explored in terms of cortico-cortical interactions, subcortical regions are likely to be involved. To uncover this, we combined MRI and MEG data from 17 male and 11 female participants, investigating whether derived measures of subcortical structural asymmetries predict interhemispheric modulation of alpha power during a spatial attention task. We show that volumetric hemispheric lateralization of globus pallidus (GP) and thalamus (Th) explains individual hemispheric biases in the ability to modulate posterior alpha power. Importantly, for the GP, this effect became stronger when the value-saliency parings in the task increased. Our findings suggest that the GP and Th in humans are part of a subcortical executive control network, differentially involved in modulating posterior alpha activity in the presence of saliency. Further investigation aimed at uncovering the interaction between subcortical and neocortical attentional networks would provide useful insight in future studies.Significance statementWhile the involvement of subcortical regions into higher level cognitive processing, such as attention and reward attribution, has been already indicated in previous studies, little is known about its relationship with the functional oscillatory underpinnings of said processes. In particular, interhemispheric modulation of alpha band (8-13Hz) oscillations, as recorded with magnetoencephalography (MEG), has been previously shown to vary as a function of salience (i.e. monetary reward/loss) in a spatial attention task. We here provide novel insights into the link between subcortical and cortical control of visual attention. Using the same reward-related spatial attention paradigm, we show that the volumetric lateralization of subcortical structures (specifically Globus Pallidus and Thalamus) explains individual biases in the modulation of visual alpha activity.

scholarly journals Probing the limits of alpha power lateralization as a neural marker of selective attention in middle-aged and older listeners

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Malte Wöstmann ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Auditory Spatial Attention ◽  
Neural Marker

AbstractIn recent years, hemispheric lateralization of alpha power has emerged as a neural mechanism thought to underpin spatial attention across sensory modalities. Yet, how healthy aging, beginning in middle adulthood, impacts the modulation of lateralized alpha power supporting auditory attention remains poorly understood. In the current electroencephalography (EEG) study, middle-aged and older adults (N = 29; ~40-70 years) performed a dichotic listening task that simulates a challenging, multi-talker scenario. We examined the extent to which the modulation of 8-12 Hz alpha power would serve as neural marker of listening success across age. With respect to the increase in inter-individual variability with age, we examined an extensive battery of behavioral, perceptual, and neural measures. Similar to findings on younger adults, middle-aged and older listeners′ auditory spatial attention induced robust lateralization of alpha power, which synchronized with the speech rate. Notably, the observed relationship between this alpha lateralization and task performance did not co-vary with age. Instead, task performance was strongly related to an individual’s attentional and working memory capacity. Multivariate analyses revealed a separation of neural and behavioral variables independent of age. Our results suggest that in age-varying samples as the present one, the lateralization of alpha power is neither a sufficient nor necessary neural strategy for an individual’s auditory spatial attention, as higher age might come with increased use of alternative, compensatory mechanisms. Our findings emphasize that explaining inter-individual variability will be key to understanding the role of alpha oscillations in auditory attention in the aging listener.

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
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Temporal Filtering ◽  
Spatio Temporal

scholarly journals Neural attentional-filter mechanisms of listening success in middle-aged and older individuals

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Mohsen Alavash ◽  
Lorenz Fiedler ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Ageing Population ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Single Trial ◽  
Neural Filter ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Behavioural Performance ◽  
Neural Marker ◽  
Attentional Filter ◽  
Speech Tracking

AbstractSuccessful listening crucially depends on intact attentional filters that separate relevant from irrelevant information. Research into their neurobiological implementation has focused on two potential auditory filter strategies: the lateralization of alpha power and selective neural speech tracking. However, the functional interplay of the two neural filter strategies and their potency to index listening success in an ageing population remains unclear. Using electroencephalography and a dual-talker task in a representative sample of listeners (N = 155; age=39–80 years), we here demonstrate an often-missed link from single-trial behavioural outcomes back to trial-by-trial changes in neural attentional filtering. First, we observe preserved attentional–cue-driven modulation of both neural filters across chronological age and hearing levels. Second, neural filter states vary independently of one another, demonstrating complementary neurobiological solutions of spatial selective attention. Stronger neural speech tracking but not alpha lateralization boosts trial-to-trial behavioural performance. Our results highlight the translational potential of neural speech tracking as an individualized neural marker of adaptive listening behaviour.

scholarly journals Frontal eye field microstimulation induces task-dependent gamma oscillations in the lateral intraparietal area

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 1392-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Premereur ◽  
Wim Vanduffel ◽  
Pieter R. Roelfsema ◽  
Peter Janssen
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Gamma Oscillations ◽  
Oculomotor Control ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Lateral Intraparietal Area ◽  
Electrical Microstimulation ◽  
Gamma Power

Macaque frontal eye fields (FEF) and the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) are high-level oculomotor control centers that have been implicated in the allocation of spatial attention. Electrical microstimulation of macaque FEF elicits functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activations in area LIP, but no study has yet investigated the effect of FEF microstimulation on LIP at the single-cell or local field potential (LFP) level. We recorded spiking and LFP activity in area LIP during weak, subthreshold microstimulation of the FEF in a delayed-saccade task. FEF microstimulation caused a highly time- and frequency-specific, task-dependent increase in gamma power in retinotopically corresponding sites in LIP: FEF microstimulation produced a significant increase in LIP gamma power when a saccade target appeared and remained present in the LIP receptive field (RF), whereas less specific increases in alpha power were evoked by FEF microstimulation for saccades directed away from the RF. Stimulating FEF with weak currents had no effect on LIP spike rates or on the gamma power during memory saccades or passive fixation. These results provide the first evidence for task-dependent modulations of LFPs in LIP caused by top-down stimulation of FEF. Since the allocation and disengagement of spatial attention in visual cortex have been associated with increases in gamma and alpha power, respectively, the effects of FEF microstimulation on LIP are consistent with the known effects of spatial attention.

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