Electrophysiological correlates of attention-spreading in visual grouping

Neuroreport. 2007 Jan 8;18(1):93-8. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e328011b8c9.

Abstract

This study examined event-related potentials in a sustained-attention task that involved bilateral stimulus arrays, which were connected or unconnected by a line. Spatial attention was reflected by a large amplitude of posterior event-related potentials at the hemisphere contralateral, rather than ipsilateral, to the attended hemi-field. The earliest attention effect (P1, 100-160 ms poststimulus) was not affected by connectedness. The subsequent attention effect (N2pc, 190-300 ms) was observed when the target feature appeared in the attended hemi-field, whereas this effect was not seen in the early phase (190-250 ms) in the connected condition. The results indicate that the lateralized event-related potential reflects transient attention-spreading in association with perceptual grouping.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Electroencephalography / methods
  • Electrooculography / methods
  • Evoked Potentials, Visual / physiology*
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Photic Stimulation / methods
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Space Perception / physiology*