Frequency- and Phase-Dependent Effects of Auditory Entrainment on Attentional Blink

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoya Kawashima ◽  
Shuka Shibusawa ◽  
Kaoru Amano
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Auditory Stimulation ◽  
Theta Oscillations ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Alpha Frequency

Attentional blink (AB) is the impaired detection of a second target (T2) after a first target has been identified. In this paper, we investigated the functional roles of alpha and theta oscillations on AB by determining how much preceding rhythmic auditory stimulation affected the performance of AB. Healthy young adults participated in the experiment online.　We found that when two targets were embedded in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of distractors at 10 Hz (i.e., alpha frequency), the magnitude of AB increased with auditory stimuli. The increase was limited to the case when the frequency and phase of auditory stimuli matched the following RSVP stream. On the contrary, when only two targets were presented without a distractor, auditory stimuli at theta, not alpha, increased the AB magnitude. These results indicate that neural oscillations at two different frequencies, namely alpha and theta, are both involved in attentional blink.

Endogenous and Rapid Serial Visual Presentation-induced Alpha Band Oscillations in the Attentional Blink

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1454-1468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolanda Janson ◽  
Maarten De Vos ◽  
Jeremy D. Thorne ◽  
Cornelia Kranczioch
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Visual Evoked Potential ◽  
Evoked Potential ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Alpha Activity ◽  
Power Reduction ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Target Interval ◽  
Alpha Frequency

The attentional blink (AB) is a deficit in conscious perception of the second of two targets if it follows the first within 200–500 msec. The AB phenomenon has been linked to pre-target oscillatory alpha activity. However, this is based on paradigms that use a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stimulus stream in which the targets are embedded. This distracter stream is usually presented at a frequency of 10 Hz and thus generates a steady-state visual-evoked potential (ssVEP) at the center of the alpha frequency band. This makes the interpretation of alpha findings in the AB difficult. To be able to relate these findings either to the presence of the ssVEP or to an effect of endogenously generated alpha activity, we compared AB paradigms with and without different pre-target distracter streams. The distracter stream was always presented at 12 Hz, and power and intertrial phase coherence were analyzed in the alpha range (8–12 Hz). Without a distracter stream alpha power dropped before target presentation, whereas coherence did not change. Presence of a distracter stream was linked to stronger pre-target power reduction and increased coherence, which were both modulated by distracter stream characteristics. With regard to the AB results indicated that, whereas ssVEP-related power tended to be higher when both targets were detected, endogenous alpha power tended to be lower. We argue that the pattern of results indicates that in the pre-target interval several processes act in parallel. The balance between these processes relates to the occurrence of an AB.

scholarly journals Sounding It Out: Auditory Stimulation and Overnight Memory Processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus O. Harrington ◽  
Scott A. Cairney
Keyword(s):  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Slow Wave Sleep ◽  
Auditory Stimulation ◽  
Theta Oscillations ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
Eeg Recordings

Abstract Purpose of Review Auditory stimulation is a technique that can enhance neural oscillations linked to overnight memory consolidation. In this review, we evaluate the impacts of auditory stimulation on the neural oscillations of sleep and associated memory processes in a variety of populations. Recent Findings Cortical EEG recordings of slow-wave sleep (SWS) are characterised by two cardinal oscillations: slow oscillations (SOs) and sleep spindles. Auditory stimulation delivered in SWS enhances SOs and phase-coupled spindle activity in healthy children and adults, children with ADHD, adults with mild cognitive impairment and patients with major depression. Under certain conditions, auditory stimulation bolsters the benefits of SWS for memory consolidation, although further work is required to fully understand the factors affecting stimulation-related memory gains. Recent work has turned to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, demonstrating that auditory stimulation can be used to manipulate REM sleep theta oscillations. Summary Auditory stimulation enhances oscillations linked to overnight memory processing and shows promise as a technique for enhancing the memory benefits of sleep.

Interruption of Late Visual Processing Causes an Attentional Blink

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 134-134
Author(s):  
A Ehrenstein ◽  
B G Breitmeyer ◽  
K K Pritchard ◽  
M Hiscock ◽  
J Crisan
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Masking Effect ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Display Location

When the task is to detect two letter targets in a stream of non-letter (digit) distractors in rapid serial visual presentation, an attentional blink (AB; ie a deficit in the detection of a second target when it follows the first by approximately 100 – 500 ms) is often found to occur. In a series of four experiments with different numbers of display positions, with or without masking, we show that: (1) the AB, which occurs when all items are presented at the same display location, is reduced when targets and distractors are presented randomly dispersed over 4 or 9 adjacent locations; (2) the AB is reduced with the spatially distributed presentation even when backward masks are used in all possible stimulus locations and when the location of the next item in the sequence is predictable; (3) the AB is not due to either a location-specific forward or backward masking effect occurring at early levels in visual processing. We conclude that the AB is primarily a function of the interruption of late visual processing produced when the item following the first target occurs at the same location. It seems that, in order for the AB to occur, the item following the first target must be presented at the same location as that target so that it can serve both as a distractor and as a mask interrupting or interfering with late visual processing.

Irrelevant Words Trigger an Attentional Blink

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Stein ◽  
Jan Zwickel ◽  
Maria Kitzmantel ◽  
Johanna Ritter ◽  
Werner X. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Target Item ◽  
Target Identification ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Distractor Word ◽  
Word Target ◽  
Feature Sharing ◽  
Irrelevant Word ◽  
Feature Overlap

It has been argued that salient distractor items displayed during rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) trigger an attentional blink (AB) when they share features with the target item. Here we demonstrate that salient distractor words induce an AB independently of feature overlap with the target. In two experiments a color-highlighted irrelevant word preceded a target by a variable lag in an RSVP series of false font strings. Target identification was reduced at short relative to long temporal lags between the distractor word and the target, irrespective of feature sharing with the distractor word. When the target shared features with the distractor word, target accuracy was reduced across all lags. Accordingly, feature sharing between the distractor word and the target did not amplify the AB, but had an additive effect on attentional capture by the distractor word.

scholarly journals Animals Do Not Induce or Reduce Attentional Blinking, But They Are Reported More Accurately in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Task

i-Perception ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 204166951773554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hagen ◽  
Bruno Laeng
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Final Experiment ◽  
Animal Images ◽  
General Advantage

Evolutionary psychologists have suggested that modern humans have evolved to automatically direct their attention toward animal stimuli. Although this suggestion has found support in several attentional paradigms, it is not without controversy. Recently, a study employing methods customary to studying the attentional blink has shown inconclusive support for the prioritization of animals in attention. This showed an advantage for reporting animals as second targets within the typical window of the attentional blink, but it remained unclear whether this advantage was really due to a reduction of the attentional blink. We reassessed for the presence of a reduced attentional blink for animals compared with artifacts by using three disparate stimuli sets. A general advantage for animals was found but no indication of a reduction of the attentional blink for animals. There was no support for the prediction that animal distractors should lead to spontaneous inductions of attentional blinks when presented as critical distractors before single targets. Another experiment with single targets still showed that animals were reported more accurately than artifacts. A final experiment showed that when animals were first target, they did not generate stronger attentional blinks. In summary, we did find a general advantage for animal images in the rapid serial visual presentation task, but animal images did not either induce or reduce attentional blinks. This set of results is in line with conclusions from previous research showing no evidence for a special role of animals in attention.

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