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Ciupińska K, Orłowska W, Zębrowski A, Łępa L, Koculak M, Bola M, Wierzchoń M. The influence of spatial and temporal attention on visual awareness-a behavioral and ERP study. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae241. [PMID: 38850216 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Whether attention is a prerequisite of perceptual awareness or an independent and dissociable process remains a matter of debate. Importantly, understanding the relation between attention and awareness is probably not possible without taking into account the fact that both are heterogeneous and multifaceted mechanisms. Therefore, the present study tested the impact on visual awareness of two attentional mechanisms proposed by the Posner model: temporal alerting and spatio-temporal orienting. Specifically, we evaluated the effects of attention on the perceptual level, by measuring objective and subjective awareness of a threshold-level stimulus; and on the neural level, by investigating how attention affects two postulated event-related potential correlates of awareness. We found that alerting and orienting mechanisms additively facilitate perceptual consciousness, with activation of the latter resulting in the most vivid awareness. Furthermore, we found that late positivity is unlikely to constitute a neural correlate of consciousness as its amplitude was modulated by both attentional mechanisms, but early visual awareness negativity was independent of the alerting and orienting mechanisms. In conclusion, our study reveals a nuanced relationship between attention and awareness; moreover, by investigating the effect of the alerting mechanism, this study provides insights into the role of temporal attention in perceptual consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinga Ciupińska
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena Street, 30-060 Krakow, Poland
- Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction (S4HRI), Italian Institute of Technology, via Enrico Melen 83, 16152 Genova, Italy
| | - Wiktoria Orłowska
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena Street, 30-060 Krakow, Poland
- Doctoral School in the Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University, 34 Rynek Główny, 31-010 Krakow, Poland
| | - Aleksander Zębrowski
- Doctoral School in the Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University, 34 Rynek Główny, 31-010 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, 50 Kopernika Street, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Laura Łępa
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena Street, 30-060 Krakow, Poland
| | - Marcin Koculak
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena Street, 30-060 Krakow, Poland
| | - Michał Bola
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, 50 Kopernika Street, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
| | - Michał Wierzchoń
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena Street, 30-060 Krakow, Poland
- Centre for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University, 50 Kopernika Street, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
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2
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Liu J, Bayle DJ, Spagna A, Sitt JD, Bourgeois A, Lehongre K, Fernandez-Vidal S, Adam C, Lambrecq V, Navarro V, Seidel Malkinson T, Bartolomeo P. Fronto-parietal networks shape human conscious report through attention gain and reorienting. Commun Biol 2023; 6:730. [PMID: 37454150 PMCID: PMC10349830 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05108-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
How do attention and consciousness interact in the human brain? Rival theories of consciousness disagree on the role of fronto-parietal attentional networks in conscious perception. We recorded neural activity from 727 intracerebral contacts in 13 epileptic patients, while they detected near-threshold targets preceded by attentional cues. Clustering revealed three neural patterns: first, attention-enhanced conscious report accompanied sustained right-hemisphere fronto-temporal activity in networks connected by the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) II-III, and late accumulation of activity (>300 ms post-target) in bilateral dorso-prefrontal and right-hemisphere orbitofrontal cortex (SLF I-III). Second, attentional reorienting affected conscious report through early, sustained activity in a right-hemisphere network (SLF III). Third, conscious report accompanied left-hemisphere dorsolateral-prefrontal activity. Task modeling with recurrent neural networks revealed multiple clusters matching the identified brain clusters, elucidating the causal relationship between clusters in conscious perception of near-threshold targets. Thus, distinct, hemisphere-asymmetric fronto-parietal networks support attentional gain and reorienting in shaping human conscious experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianghao Liu
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
- Dassault Systèmes, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France.
| | | | - Alfredo Spagna
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University in the City of New York, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Jacobo D Sitt
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Alexia Bourgeois
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Katia Lehongre
- CENIR - Centre de Neuro-Imagerie de Recherche, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Sara Fernandez-Vidal
- CENIR - Centre de Neuro-Imagerie de Recherche, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Claude Adam
- Epilepsy Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Virginie Lambrecq
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
- Epilepsy Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
- Clinical Neurophysiology Department, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Navarro
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France
- Epilepsy Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
- Clinical Neurophysiology Department, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Tal Seidel Malkinson
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
- CNRS, CRAN, Université de Lorraine, F-54000, Nancy, France.
| | - Paolo Bartolomeo
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France.
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Spagna A, Bayle DJ, Romeo Z, Seidel-Malkinson T, Liu J, Yahia-Cherif L, Chica AB, Bartolomeo P. The cost of attentional reorienting on conscious visual perception: an MEG study. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2048-2060. [PMID: 35609335 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
How do attentional networks influence conscious perception? To answer this question, we used magnetoencephalography in human participants and assessed the effects of spatially nonpredictive or predictive supra-threshold peripheral cues on the conscious perception of near-threshold Gabors. Three main results emerged. (i) As compared with invalid cues, both nonpredictive and predictive valid cues increased conscious detection. Yet, only predictive cues shifted the response criterion toward a more liberal decision (i.e. willingness to report the presence of a target under conditions of greater perceptual uncertainty) and affected target contrast leading to 50% detections. (ii) Conscious perception following valid predictive cues was associated to enhanced activity in frontoparietal networks. These responses were lateralized to the left hemisphere during attentional orienting and to the right hemisphere during target processing. The involvement of frontoparietal networks occurred earlier in valid than in invalid trials, a possible neural marker of the cost of re-orienting attention. (iii) When detected targets were preceded by invalid predictive cues, and thus reorienting to the target was required, neural responses occurred in left hemisphere temporo-occipital regions during attentional orienting, and in right hemisphere anterior insular and temporo-occipital regions during target processing. These results confirm and specify the role of frontoparietal networks in modulating conscious processing and detail how invalid orienting of spatial attention disrupts conscious processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Spagna
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University in the City of New York, New York, NY 10027, USA.,Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Dimitri J Bayle
- Licae Lab, Université Paris Nanterre, 92001 Nanterre, France
| | - Zaira Romeo
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Tal Seidel-Malkinson
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Jianghao Liu
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Lydia Yahia-Cherif
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Ana B Chica
- Department of Experimental Psychology; Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Paolo Bartolomeo
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Paris Brain Institute, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
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Botta F, Arévalo EM, Bartolomeo P, Lupiáñez J. Attentional distraction affects maintenance of information in visual sensory memory. Conscious Cogn 2023; 107:103453. [PMID: 36584440 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Classical theoretical models suggest that visual short-term memory can be divided in two main memory systems: sensory memory, a short-lasting but high-capacity memory storage and working memory, a long-lasting but low-capacity memory store. Whilst, previous research has systematically shown a strong interplay between attentional mechanisms and working memory, less clear is the role of attention in sensory memory. In the present study we approach this issue by asking whether withdrawing attentional resources by a dual task (Experiment 1) or by presenting task irrelevant information during memory maintenance (Experiment 2 and 3) similarly or differently affect sensory and working memory. Overall, results showed that sensory memory content was undermined not only by a simultaneous high-demanding cognitive task but even when purely task-irrelevant and non-masking visual distractors were presented during maintenance. Our data provide support against theories that consider sensory memories as a case of visual awareness free of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiano Botta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain.
| | - Elisa Martín Arévalo
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain
| | - Paolo Bartolomeo
- INSERM U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), Paris, France
| | - Juan Lupiáñez
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain
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5
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Kurita Y, Urakawa T, Araki O. Theta phase coherence in visual mismatch responses involved in access processing to visual awareness. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1051844. [PMID: 36908709 PMCID: PMC9995375 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1051844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: The electroencephalographic brain response to a deviation from the preceding sequential regularity of visual events, called visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), is well known to reflect automatic visual change detection. Our preliminary study showed a significant correlation between the enhancement of the vMMN amplitude and facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant stimulus was presented unconsciously. This implies that the vMMN is relevant to access processing, in which the unconscious stimulus is consciously perceived. Recent studies have reported that theta band oscillation evoked by a deviant stimulus is involved in evoking vMMN. However, it has not been clarified whether theta band oscillation associated with vMMN is also relevant to access processing. Methods: We analyzed the correlations between event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) in the theta band and the proportion of perceptual alternation from before to after the presentation of deviation in the same experimental paradigm as in our previous study. Results: We found that an increase in ITPC in the theta band tended to correlate with facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant was presented unconsciously, but there was no significant correlation in ERSP. Discussion: The results suggest that theta phase coherence underlying the visual mismatch process is relevant to the access processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Kurita
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomokazu Urakawa
- Integrated Control System Development Division, Mazda Motor Corporation, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Osamu Araki
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan
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Dietze N, Poth CH. Phasic Alertness is Unaffected by the Attentional Set for Orienting. J Cogn 2022; 5:46. [PMID: 36304587 PMCID: PMC9541150 DOI: 10.5334/joc.242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Warning stimuli preceding target stimuli for behaviour improve behavioural performance, which is referred to as phasic alerting. Similar benefits occur due to preceding orienting cues that draw spatial attention to the targets. It has long been assumed that alerting and orienting effects arise from separate attention systems, but recent views call this into question. As it stands, it remains unclear if the two systems are interdependent, or if they function independently. Here, we investigated whether the current attentional set for orienting modulates the effectiveness of alerting. In three experiments, participants classified visual stimuli in a speeded fashion. These target stimuli were preceded by orienting cues that could predict the target's location, by alerting cues that were neutral regarding the target's location, or by no cues. Alerting cues and orienting cues consisted of the same visual stimuli, linking alerting cues with the attentional set for orienting. The attentional set for orienting was manipulated in blocks, in which orienting cues were either informative or uninformative about the target's location. Results showed that while alerting generally enhanced performance, alerting was unaffected by the informativeness of the orienting cues. These findings show that alerting does not depend on the attentional set that controls orienting based on the informational value of orienting cues. As such, the findings provide a simple dissociation of mechanisms underlying phasic alertness and spatial attentional orienting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Dietze
- Neuro-Cognitive Psychology and Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Christian H. Poth
- Neuro-Cognitive Psychology and Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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7
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Arana L, Melcón M, Kessel D, Hoyos S, Albert J, Carretié L, Capilla A. Suppression of alpha-band power underlies exogenous attention to emotional distractors. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14051. [PMID: 35318692 PMCID: PMC9540775 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Alpha-band oscillations (8-14 Hz) are essential for attention and perception processes by facilitating the selection of relevant information. Directing visuospatial endogenous (voluntary) attention to a given location consistently results in a power suppression of alpha activity over occipito-parietal areas contralateral to the attended visual field. In contrast, the neural oscillatory dynamics underlying the involuntary capture of attention, or exogenous attention, are currently under debate. By exploiting the inherent capacity of emotionally salient visual stimuli to capture attention, we aimed to investigate whether exogenous attention is characterized by either a reduction or an increase in alpha-band activity. Electroencephalographic activity was recorded while participants completed a Posner visuospatial cueing task, in which a lateralized image with either positive, negative, or neutral emotional content competed with a target stimulus presented in the opposite hemifield. Compared with trials with no distractors, alpha power was reduced over occipital regions contralateral to distracting images. This reduction of alpha activity turned out to be functionally relevant, as it correlated with impaired behavioral performance on the ongoing task and was enhanced for distractors with negative valence. Taken together, our results demonstrate that visuospatial exogenous attention is characterized by a suppression of alpha-band activity contralateral to distractor location, similar to the oscillatory underpinnings of endogenous attention. Further, these results highlight the key role of exogenous attention as an adaptive mechanism for the efficient detection of biologically salient stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Arana
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - María Melcón
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Dominique Kessel
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sandra Hoyos
- Departamento de Neurociencia y Aprendizaje, Universidad Católica de Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Jacobo Albert
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Luis Carretié
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Almudena Capilla
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Cobos MI, Chica AB. EXPRESS: Attention does not always help: the role of expectancy, divided, and spatial attention on illusory conjunctions. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022; 75:2087-2104. [PMID: 35274574 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221089625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Humans have the subjective impression of a rich perceptual experience, but this perception is riddled with errors that might be produced by top-down expectancies or failures in feature integration. The role of attention in feature integration is still unclear. Some studies support the importance of attention in feature integration (Paul & Schyns, 2003), whereas others suggest that feature integration does not require attention (Humphreys, 2016). Understanding attention as a heterogeneous system, in this study we explored the role of divided (as opposed to focused - Experiment 1) attention, and endogenous-exogenous spatial orienting (Experiments 2 and 3) in feature integration. We also explored the role of feature expectancy, by presenting stimulus features that were completely unexpected to the participants. Results demonstrated that both endogenous and exogenous orienting improved feature integration while divided attention did not. Moreover, a strong and consistent feature expectancy effect was observed, demonstrating perceptual completion when an unexpected perceptual feature was presented in the scene. These results support the feature confirmation account (Humphreys, 2016), which proposes that attention is important for top-down matching of stable representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- María I Cobos
- Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC) and Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Spain 16741
| | - Ana B Chica
- Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC) and Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Spain 16741
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9
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Can music restore brain connectivity in post-stroke cognitive deficits? Med Hypotheses 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2022.110761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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10
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Bachmann T. Representational 'touch' and modulatory 'retouch'-two necessary neurobiological processes in thalamocortical interaction for conscious experience. Neurosci Conscious 2021; 2021:niab045. [PMID: 34925911 PMCID: PMC8672242 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niab045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Theories of consciousness using neurobiological data or being influenced by these data have been focused either on states of consciousness or contents of consciousness. These theories have occasionally used evidence from psychophysical phenomena where conscious experience is a dependent experimental variable. However, systematic catalog of many such relevant phenomena has not been offered in terms of these theories. In the perceptual retouch theory of thalamocortical interaction, recently developed to become a blend with the dendritic integration theory, consciousness states and contents of consciousness are explained by the same mechanism. This general-purpose mechanism has modulation of the cortical layer-5 pyramidal neurons that represent contents of consciousness as its core. As a surplus, many experimental psychophysical phenomena of conscious perception can be explained by the workings of this mechanism. Historical origins and current views inherent in this theory are presented and reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talis Bachmann
- Department of Penal Law, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Law, University of Tartu (Tallinn Branch), Kaarli puiestee 3, Tallinn 10119, Estonia
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Kurita Y, Urakawa T, Araki O. Involvement of Visual Mismatch Negativity in Access Processing to Visual Awareness. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:757411. [PMID: 34803638 PMCID: PMC8603928 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.757411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychophysiological studies with electroencephalography, focusing on the dynamical aspect of neural correlate of consciousness, reported that visual awareness negativity and P3 enhancement are observed at a latency, 200–300 ms after the visual stimulus onset, when the visual stimulus is consciously perceived. However, access processing to visual awareness (APVA) immediately before conscious perception still remains at the earlier stage of visual sensory processing, though there is little known regarding this subject. The present study hypothesized that visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), which reflects automatic change detection at a latency of 130–250 ms, might be involved in the APVA. In a previous study, vMMN was reported to be evoked by the deviant stimulus that is not consciously perceived in binocular rivalry. To clarify whether the visual change detection affects APVA, we conducted a modified experiment of oddball paradigm on binocular rivalry. The results showed a significant correlation between enhancement of vMMN amplitude and facilitation of perceptual alternation when the unconscious deviant was presented. This implies that vMMN is relevant to the APVA, which is a novel role of vMMN. In early visual processing, the attentional mechanism associated with vMMN is suggested to play an important role in unconscious neural processing at an earlier stage of visual awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Kurita
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomokazu Urakawa
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Osamu Araki
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan
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12
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Baier D, Goller F, Ansorge U. Awareness and Stimulus-Driven Spatial Attention as Independent Processes. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:352. [PMID: 32982706 PMCID: PMC7493193 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
To investigate the relation between attention and awareness, we manipulated visibility/awareness and stimulus-driven attention capture among metacontrast-masked visual stimuli. By varying the time interval between target and mask, we manipulated target visibility measured as target discrimination accuracies (ACCs; Experiments 1 and 2) and as subjective awareness ratings (Experiment 3). To modulate stimulus-driven attention capture, we presented the masked target either as a color-singleton (the target stands out by its unique color among homogeneously colored non-singletons), as a non-singleton together with a distractor singleton elsewhere (an irrelevant distractor has a unique color, whereas the target is colored like the other stimuli) or without a singleton (no stimulus stands out; only in Experiment 1). As color singletons capture attention in a stimulus-driven way, we expected target visibility/discrimination performance to be best for target singletons and worst with distractor singletons. In Experiments 1 and 2, we confirmed that the masking interval and the singleton manipulation influenced ACCs in an independent way and that attention capture by the singletons, with facilitated performance in target-singleton compared to distractor-singleton conditions, was found regardless of the interval-induced (in-)visibility of the targets. In Experiment 1, we also confirmed that attention capture was the same among participants with worse and better visibility/discrimination performance. In Experiment 2, we confirmed attention capture by color singletons with better discrimination performance for probes presented at singleton position, compared to other positions. Finally, in Experiment 3, we found that attention capture by target singletons also increased target awareness and that this capture effect on subjective awareness was independent of the effect of the masking interval, too. Together, results provide new evidence that stimulus-driven attention and awareness operate independently from one another and that stimulus-driven attention capture can precede awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Baier
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Goller
- Department of Consumer Service, University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt, Austria
| | - Ulrich Ansorge
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Cognitive Research Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Siuda-Krzywicka K, Boros M, Bartolomeo P, Witzel C. The biological bases of colour categorisation: From goldfish to the human brain. Cortex 2019; 118:82-106. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Revised: 12/03/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Hurst AJ, Lawrence MA, Klein RM. How Does Spatial Attention Influence the Probability and Fidelity of Colour Perception? Vision (Basel) 2019; 3:E31. [PMID: 31735832 PMCID: PMC6802789 DOI: 10.3390/vision3020031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Revised: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Existing research has found that spatial attention alters how various stimulus properties are perceived (e.g., luminance, saturation), but few have explored whether it improves the accuracy of perception. To address this question, we performed two experiments using modified Posner cueing tasks, wherein participants made speeded detection responses to peripheral colour targets and then indicated their perceived colours on a colour wheel. In E1, cues were central and endogenous (i.e., prompted voluntary attention) and the interval between cues and targets (stimulus onset asynchrony, or SOA) was always 800 ms. In E2, cues were peripheral and exogenous (i.e., captured attention involuntarily) and the SOA varied between short (100 ms) and long (800 ms). A Bayesian mixed-model analysis was used to isolate the effects of attention on the probability and the fidelity of colour encoding. Both endogenous and short-SOA exogenous spatial cueing improved the probability of encoding the colour of targets. Improved fidelity of encoding was observed in the endogenous but not in the exogenous cueing paradigm. With exogenous cues, inhibition of return (IOR) was observed in both RT and probability at the long SOA. Overall, our findings reinforce the utility of continuous response variables in the research of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin J. Hurst
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Michael A. Lawrence
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Raymond M. Klein
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
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15
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Colás I, Chica AB, Ródenas E, Busquier H, Olivares G, Triviño M. Conscious perception in patients with prefrontal damage. Neuropsychologia 2019; 129:284-293. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Vernet M, Japee S, Lokey S, Ahmed S, Zachariou V, Ungerleider LG. Endogenous visuospatial attention increases visual awareness independent of visual discrimination sensitivity. Neuropsychologia 2019; 128:297-304. [PMID: 28807647 PMCID: PMC5809327 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 08/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Visuospatial attention often improves task performance by increasing signal gain at attended locations and decreasing noise at unattended locations. Attention is also believed to be the mechanism that allows information to enter awareness. In this experiment, we assessed whether orienting endogenous visuospatial attention with cues differentially affects visual discrimination sensitivity (an objective task performance) and visual awareness (the subjective feeling of perceiving) during the same discrimination task. Gabor patch targets were presented laterally, either at low contrast (contrast stimuli) or at high contrast embedded in noise (noise stimuli). Participants reported their orientation either in a 3-alternative choice task (clockwise, counterclockwise, unknown) that allowed for both objective and subjective reports, or in a 2-alternative choice task (clockwise, counterclockwise) that provided a control for objective reports. Signal detection theory models were fit to the experimental data: estimated perceptual sensitivity reflected objective performance; decision criteria, or subjective biases, were a proxy for visual awareness. Attention increased sensitivity (i.e., improved objective performance) for the contrast, but not for the noise stimuli. Indeed, with the latter, attention did not further enhance the already high target signal or reduce the already low uncertainty on its position. Interestingly, for both contrast and noise stimuli, attention resulted in more liberal criteria, i.e., awareness increased. The noise condition is thus an experimental configuration where people think they see the targets they attend to better, even if they do not. This could be explained by an internal representation of their attentional state, which influences awareness independent of objective visual signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marine Vernet
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Shruti Japee
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Savannah Lokey
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sara Ahmed
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Valentinos Zachariou
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Leslie G Ungerleider
- Section on Neurocircuitry, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
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17
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Torriero S, Mattavelli G, Lo Gerfo E, Romero Lauro L, Actis-Grosso R, Ricciardelli P. FEF Excitability in Attentional Bias: A TMS-EEG Study. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 12:333. [PMID: 30687035 PMCID: PMC6336732 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of distinct cortical regions in guiding social orienting needs further investigation. Our aim was to explore the contribution of the frontal eye field (FEF) in early orienting of attention towards stimuli with social value. We used a TMS-EEG approach to investigate event related potentials (ERPs; no-TMS block) and TMS evoked potentials (TEPs; TMS block) during the cueing phase of a modified version of the dot-probe task, comparing competing (face vs. house) and not competing (house vs. house) conditions. Our results revealed an increased amplitude of ERP components in the competing condition, showing greater posterior N170 and fronto-central vertex positive potential (VPP) and an enhanced frontal negative component at 250-270 ms from cue onset. TMS pulses over the FEF induced similar N170 and VPP amplified components. In addition, in the ERPs, a reduced positivity at 400 ms was shown when the face appeared on the left side vs. the right side of space. In contrast, in the TMS blocks, we found lateralized effects on N170 depending on the side of face presentation. The enhanced cortical excitability induced by TMS over the right FEF significantly correlated with the performance on the behavioral task, suggesting a link between the FEF activity during the cueing phase of the dot-probe task and the subsequent behavioral response times to the targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Torriero
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Mattavelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuele Lo Gerfo
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
- Department of Economics Management and Statistics, University of Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Leonor Romero Lauro
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Rossana Actis-Grosso
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Paola Ricciardelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
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Cobos MI, Guerra PM, Vila J, Chica AB. Heart-rate modulations reveal attention and consciousness interactions. Psychophysiology 2018; 56:e13295. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2018] [Revised: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- María I. Cobos
- Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC); University of Granada; Granada Spain
- Department of Experimental Psychology; University of Granada; Granada Spain
| | - Pedro M. Guerra
- Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC); University of Granada; Granada Spain
- Department of Clinical Psychology; University of Granada; Granada Spain
| | - Jaime Vila
- Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC); University of Granada; Granada Spain
- Department of Clinical Psychology; University of Granada; Granada Spain
| | - Ana B. Chica
- Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC); University of Granada; Granada Spain
- Department of Experimental Psychology; University of Granada; Granada Spain
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19
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Colás I, Capilla A, Chica AB. Neural modulations of interference control over conscious perception. Neuropsychologia 2018; 112:40-49. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.02.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Revised: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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20
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Doruk D, Chanes L, Malavera A, Merabet LB, Valero-Cabré A, Fregni F. Cross-modal cueing effects of visuospatial attention on conscious somatosensory perception. Heliyon 2018; 4:e00595. [PMID: 29736429 PMCID: PMC5934691 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Revised: 01/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The impact of visuospatial attention on perception with supraliminal stimuli and stimuli at the threshold of conscious perception has been previously investigated. In this study, we assess the cross-modal effects of visuospatial attention on conscious perception for near-threshold somatosensory stimuli applied to the face. METHODS Fifteen healthy participants completed two sessions of a near-threshold cross-modality cue-target discrimination/conscious detection paradigm. Each trial began with an endogenous visuospatial cue that predicted the location of a weak near-threshold electrical pulse delivered to the right or left cheek with high probability (∼75%). Participants then completed two tasks: first, a forced-choice somatosensory discrimination task (felt once or twice?) and then, a somatosensory conscious detection task (did you feel the stimulus and, if yes, where (left/right)?). Somatosensory discrimination was evaluated with the response reaction times of correctly detected targets, whereas the somatosensory conscious detection was quantified using perceptual sensitivity (d') and response bias (beta). A 2 × 2 repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS In the somatosensory discrimination task (1st task), participants were significantly faster in responding to correctly detected targets (p < 0.001). In the somatosensory conscious detection task (2nd task), a significant effect of visuospatial attention on response bias (p = 0.008) was observed, suggesting that participants had a less strict criterion for stimuli preceded by spatially valid than invalid visuospatial cues. CONCLUSIONS We showed that spatial attention has the potential to modulate the discrimination and the conscious detection of near-threshold somatosensory stimuli as measured, respectively, by a reduction of reaction times and a shift in response bias toward less conservative responses when the cue predicted stimulus location. A shift in response bias indicates possible effects of spatial attention on internal decision processes. The lack of significant results in perceptual sensitivity (d') could be due to weaker effects of endogenous attention on perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deniz Doruk
- Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Lorena Chanes
- Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS UMR 7225-INSERM UMRS S975, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et la Moelle (ICM), 75013 Paris, France
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Serra Húnter Fellow, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Alejandra Malavera
- Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Lotfi B. Merabet
- Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Antoni Valero-Cabré
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS UMR 7225-INSERM UMRS S975, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et la Moelle (ICM), 75013 Paris, France
- Laboratory for Cerebral Dynamics Plasticity & Rehabilitation, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Information Technology Research Program, Open University of Catalonia (UOC), 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felipe Fregni
- Neuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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21
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White matter microstructure of attentional networks predicts attention and consciousness functional interactions. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 223:653-668. [PMID: 28905109 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1511-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 09/06/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Attention is considered as one of the pre-requisites of conscious perception. Phasic alerting and exogenous orienting improve conscious perception of near-threshold information through segregated brain networks. Using a multimodal neuroimaging approach, combining data from functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), we investigated the influence of white matter properties of the ventral branch of superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF III) in functional interactions between attentional systems and conscious perception. Results revealed that (1) reduced integrity of the left hemisphere SLF III was predictive of the neural interactions observed between exogenous orienting and conscious perception, and (2) increased integrity of the left hemisphere SLF III was predictive of the neural interactions observed between phasic alerting and conscious perception. Our results combining fMRI and DWI data demonstrate that structural properties of the white matter organization determine attentional modulations over conscious perception.
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22
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Colás I, Triviño M, Chica AB. Interference Control Modulations Over Conscious Perception. Front Psychol 2017; 8:712. [PMID: 28539899 PMCID: PMC5424266 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2016] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The relation between attention and consciousness has been a controversial topic over the last decade. Although there seems to be an agreement on their distinction at the functional level, no consensus has been reached about attentional processes being or not necessary for conscious perception. Previous studies have explored the relation of alerting and orienting systems of attention and conscious perception, but the impact of the anterior executive attention system on conscious access remains unexplored. In the present study, we investigated the behavioral interaction between executive attention and conscious perception, testing control mechanisms both at stimulus-level representation and after error commission. We presented a classical Stroop task, manipulating the proportion of congruent and incongruent trials, and analyzed the effect of reactive and proactive control on the conscious perception of near-threshold stimuli. Reactive control elicited under high proportion congruent conditions influenced participants’ decision criterion, whereas proactive control elicited under low proportion congruent conditions was ineffective in modulating conscious perception. In addition, error commission affected both perceptual sensitivity to detect near-threshold information and response criterion. These results suggest that reactivation of task goals through reactive control strategies in conflict situations impacts decision stages of conscious processing, whereas interference control elicited by error commission impacts both perceptual sensitivity and decision stages of conscious processing. We discuss the implications of our results for the gateway hypothesis about attention and consciousness, as they showed that interference control (both at stimulus-level representation and after error commission) can modulate the conscious access of near-threshold stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itsaso Colás
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Centro de Investigación Mente Cerebro y Comportamiento, Universidad de GranadaGranada, Spain
| | - Mónica Triviño
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Centro de Investigación Mente Cerebro y Comportamiento, Universidad de GranadaGranada, Spain.,Servicio de Neuropsicología, Hospital Universitario San RafaelGranada, Spain
| | - Ana B Chica
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Centro de Investigación Mente Cerebro y Comportamiento, Universidad de GranadaGranada, Spain
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23
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Target bottom-up strength determines the extent of attentional modulations on conscious perception. Exp Brain Res 2017; 235:2109-2124. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-017-4954-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2016] [Accepted: 04/02/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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24
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Herreros L, Lambert AJ, Chica AB. Orienting of attention with and without cue awareness. Neuropsychologia 2017; 99:165-171. [PMID: 28284987 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2016] [Revised: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Many cognitive processes operate without consciousness, and exogenous attentional capture seems to be one of them. While endogenously attending to the opposite location of a cue cannot occur without cue awareness, attending the cued location in an exogenous or stimulus driven form can occur even when participants are not aware of the presence of the cue (McCormick, 1997). Orienting attention to a specific location shortens reaction times to supra-threshold stimuli, and increases the likelihood of consciously perceiving near-threshold stimuli in that location. Effects of unconscious cues have mostly been demonstrated in reaction times to supra-threshold targets. In some studies, unconscious cues were perceptually less salient than conscious cues, which introduced a confound between cue awareness and cue saliency. In the present study, we used near-threshold cues and targets, which were titrated to be consciously perceived in ~50% of the trials, therefore eliminating the cue saliency confound. Moreover, we explored for the first time the effects of cue awareness on the conscious perception of subsequently presented near-threshold targets. Our results demonstrate that when cues and targets did not spatially overlap, conscious cues enhanced target localization when they appeared near the target location. In contrast, non-consciously perceived cues impaired target localization when they appeared near the target location, producing a cost in detecting subsequently presented near-threshold targets. This indicates that attentional orienting by unconscious cues cannot be accounted for by the idea that attention modulates perceptual representations, boosting them nearer to the conscious threshold. Rather, the effect of unconscious cues on target localization is qualitatively different to that elicited by conscious cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Herreros
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain.
| | - Anthony J Lambert
- School of Psychology, and Research Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ana B Chica
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain.
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25
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Chica AB, Bayle DJ, Botta F, Bartolomeo P, Paz-Alonso PM. Interactions between phasic alerting and consciousness in the fronto-striatal network. Sci Rep 2016; 6:31868. [PMID: 27555378 PMCID: PMC4995394 DOI: 10.1038/srep31868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Only a small fraction of all the information reaching our senses can be the object of conscious report or voluntary action. Although some models propose that different attentional states (top-down amplification and vigilance) are necessary for conscious perception, few studies have explored how the brain activations associated with different attentional systems (such as top-down orienting and phasic alerting) lead to conscious perception of subsequent visual stimulation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neural mechanisms associated with endogenous spatial attention and phasic alertness, and their interaction with the conscious perception of near-threshold stimuli. The only region demonstrating a neural interaction between endogenous attention and conscious perception was the thalamus, while a larger network of cortical and subcortical brain activations, typically associated with phasic alerting, was highly correlated with participants' conscious reports. Activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, frontal eye fields, thalamus, and caudate nucleus was related to perceptual consciousness. These data suggest that not all attentional systems are equally effective in enhancing conscious perception, highlighting the importance of thalamo-cortical circuits on the interactions between alerting and consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana B. Chica
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain
| | - Dimitri J. Bayle
- Sport and Movement Research Center (CeRSM, EA 2931), Université Paris Ouest-La Défense, Nanterre, France
- INSERM U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, and Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), F-75013 Paris, France
| | - Fabiano Botta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, and Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain
| | - Paolo Bartolomeo
- INSERM U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Universités, and Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, UMR S 1127, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), F-75013 Paris, France
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26
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Predictive information speeds up visual awareness in an individuation task by modulating threshold setting, not processing efficiency. Vision Res 2016; 121:104-112. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2016.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Revised: 12/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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27
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Liu Z, Cheng M, Peng K, Zhang D. Self-construal priming selectively modulates the scope of visual attention. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1508. [PMID: 26483747 PMCID: PMC4588108 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2015] [Accepted: 09/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-concept is one of the major factors to explain the cultural differences between East Asians and Westerners. In the field of visual attention, most studies have focused on the modulation of visual spatial-based attention, whereas possible influences of culture or self-concept on other types of visual attention remain largely unexplored. The present study investigated the possible modulation of visual feature-based attention by self-concept, using a within-group self-construal priming design. The experiment paradigm employed visual stimuli consisted of two intermixing random dot clouds presented in the focal visual field with red and green colors. After primed with an interdependent, independent, or neutral self-construal, the participants were instructed to attend to one of the focally presented dot cloud and respond to occasional luminance decrement events of the attended dot cloud. The detection of the focal events was found to be significantly faster when exogenously cued by a peripheral dot cloud of either the same or different colors as the attended focal dot cloud (congruent/incongruent), compared to the uncued condition. More importantly, the self-construal priming took effect only on the reaction time (RT) differences between the congruent and incongruent cued conditions: the participants responded much slower to incongruent cued events than congruent cued events under interdependent self-construal priming, while the RT difference was significantly smaller under independent self-construal priming. A closer look on the results suggests that the attention scope is selectively modulated by self-construal priming, and the modulation is mainly reflected by varying the degree of suppression on the processing of the incongruent contextual stimuli that do not share visual features with the focal object. Our findings provide new evidences that could possibly extend the current understanding on the cultural influence on visual attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuozhuo Liu
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University Beijing, China
| | - Menxue Cheng
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University Beijing, China
| | - Kaiping Peng
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University Beijing, China
| | - Dan Zhang
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University Beijing, China
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28
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Norman LJ, Heywood CA, Kentridge RW. Exogenous attention to unseen objects? Conscious Cogn 2015; 35:319-29. [PMID: 25922174 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2014] [Revised: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Attention and awareness are closely related phenomena, but recent evidence has shown that not all attended stimuli give rise to awareness. Controversy still remains over whether, and the extent to which, a dissociation between attention and awareness encompasses all forms of attention. For example, it has been suggested that attention without awareness is more readily demonstrated for voluntary, endogenous attention than its reflexive, exogenous counterpart. Here we examine whether exogenous attentional cueing can have selective behavioural effects on stimuli that nevertheless remain unseen. Using a task in which object-based attention has been shown in the absence of awareness, we remove all possible contingencies between cues and target stimuli to ensure that any cueing effects must be under purely exogenous control, and find evidence of exogenous object-based attention without awareness. In a second experiment we address whether this dissociation crucially depends on the method used to establish that the objects indeed remain unseen. Specifically, to confirm that objects are unseen we adopt appropriate signal detection task procedures, including those that retain parity with the primary attentional task (by requiring participants to discriminate the two types of trial that are used to measure an effect of attention). We show a significant object-based attention effect is apparent under conditions where the selected object indeed remains undetectable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liam J Norman
- Psychology Department, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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29
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Can the exploration of left space be induced implicitly in unilateral neglect? Conscious Cogn 2014; 31:115-23. [PMID: 25460245 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2014] [Revised: 10/05/2014] [Accepted: 11/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to explore the ability of neglect patients to detect and exploit the predictive value of a cue to respond more quickly and accurately to targets on their contralesional side in a Posner spatial cueing task. The majority of the cues (i.e. 80%) were invalid, indicating that the target would appear on the opposite side, although patients were not informed of this bias. Our results demonstrate that some neglect patients were able to extract the cue's predictability and use it to orient faster toward the left. This cueing effect was present even in patients who were subsequently unable to describe the predictive character of the cues, and thus was not modulated by reportable awareness of the cue-target relation.
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30
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Botta F, Lupiáñez J. Spatial distribution of attentional bias in visuo-spatial working memory following multiple cues. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2014; 150:1-13. [PMID: 24793127 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2014.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Revised: 03/17/2014] [Accepted: 03/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
When attention is focused on one location, its spatial distribution depends on many factors, such as the distance between the attended location and the target location, the presence of visual meridians in between them, and the way, endogenous or exogenous, by which attention is oriented. However, it is not well known how attention distributes when more than one location is endogenously or exogenously cued, which was the focus of the current study. Furthermore, the distribution of attention has been manly investigated in perception. In the present study we faced this issue from a different perspective, by examining the spatial distribution of the attentional bias in visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM), when attention is oriented either exogenously or endogenously, i.e., after two peripheral vs. central symbolic cues (also manipulating cue-target predictability). Results indicated a systematic difference between endogenous and exogenous attention regarding the distribution of the attentional bias over VSWM. In fact, attentional bias following endogenous cues was affected by the presence of visual meridians and by the split of the attentional focus, converging in a unipolar attentional distribution, independently of cue-target predictability. On the other hand, when pulled by exogenous cues, attention distributed uni-modally or multi-modally depending on the distance between the cued locations, with larger effects for highly predictive cues. Results are discussed in terms of space-based, object-based and perceptual grouping mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiano Botta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Spain.
| | - Juan Lupiáñez
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Spain
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The Spatial Orienting paradigm: How to design and interpret spatial attention experiments. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 40:35-51. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2013] [Revised: 12/03/2013] [Accepted: 01/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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32
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Botta F, Lupiáñez J, Chica AB. When endogenous spatial attention improves conscious perception: Effects of alerting and bottom-up activation. Conscious Cogn 2014; 23:63-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2013] [Revised: 11/28/2013] [Accepted: 12/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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33
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Vuilleumier P. Mapping the functional neuroanatomy of spatial neglect and human parietal lobe functions: progress and challenges. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2013; 1296:50-74. [PMID: 23751037 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Spatial neglect is generally defined by various deficits in processing information from one (e.g., left) side of space contralateral to focal (e.g., right) hemisphere damage. Although classically associated with parietal lobe functions, there is now compelling evidence that neglect can follow lesions in many different cortical and subcortical sites, suggesting a dysfunction in distributed brain networks. In addition, neglect is likely to result from a combination of distinct deficits that co-occur due to concomitant damage affecting juxtaposed brain areas and their connections, but the exact nature of core deficits and their neural substrates still remains unclear. The present review describes recent progress in identifying functional components of the neglect syndrome and relating them to distinct subregions of parietal cortex. A comprehensive understanding of spatial neglect will require a more precise definition of cognitive processes implicated in different behavioral manifestations, as well as meticulous mapping of these processes onto specific brain circuits, while taking into account functional changes in activity that may arise in structurally intact areas subsequent to damage in distant portions of the relevant networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrik Vuilleumier
- Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, and University Hospital of Geneva, University of Geneva, Michel-Servet 1, Geneva, Switzerland.
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Causal frequency-specific contributions of frontal spatiotemporal patterns induced by non-invasive neurostimulation to human visual performance. J Neurosci 2013; 33:5000-5. [PMID: 23486970 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.4401-12.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural oscillatory activity is known to play a crucial role in brain function. In the particular domain of visual perception, specific frequency bands in different brain regions and networks, from sensory areas to large-scale frontoparietal systems, have been associated with distinct aspects of visual behavior. Nonetheless, their contributions to human visual cognition remain to be causally demonstrated. We hereby used non-uniform (and thus non-frequency-specific) and uniform (frequency-specific) high-beta and gamma patterns of noninvasive neurostimulation over the right frontal eye field (FEF) to isolate the behavioral effects of oscillation frequency and provide causal evidence that distinct visual behavioral outcomes could be modulated by frequency-specific activity emerging from a single cortical region. In a visual detection task using near-threshold targets, high-beta frequency enhanced perceptual sensitivity (d') without changing response criterion (beta), whereas gamma frequency shifted response criterion but showed no effects on perceptual sensitivity. The lack of behavioral modulations by non-frequency-specific patterns demonstrates that these behavioral effects were specifically driven by burst frequency. We hypothesize that such frequency-coded behavioral impact of oscillatory activity may reflect a general brain mechanism to multiplex functions within the same neural substrate. Furthermore, pathological conditions involving impaired cerebral oscillations could potentially benefit in the near future from the use of neurostimulation to restore the characteristic oscillatory patterns of healthy systems.
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Rastelli F, Tallon-Baudry C, Migliaccio R, Toba MN, Ducorps A, Pradat-Diehl P, Duret C, Dubois B, Valero-Cabré A, Bartolomeo P. Neural dynamics of neglected targets in patients with right hemisphere damage. Cortex 2013; 49:1989-96. [PMID: 23664670 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2013.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2012] [Revised: 12/21/2012] [Accepted: 04/01/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
We studied the neural correlates of target omissions in five patients with right hemisphere damage and varying signs of left spatial neglect. Benefiting from the high temporal resolution of magneto-encephalography, we directly compared brain regional synchrony events of detected and omitted left-sided targets. Results showed that before stimulus presentation, a low beta synchronization activity was specifically increased within left frontal areas before pathological response omissions of left-sided targets. In the same pre-stimulus period, there were no such beta oscillations when patients correctly detected the target, or when no target was presented. Our findings emphasize the importance of neural activity during the pre-stimulus period on subsequent stimulus processing, and highlight the consequences of episodic interruptions of large-scale interhemispheric networks on target detection. Furthermore, our data suggest that prefrontal activity is not necessarily beneficial to target detection, but can be detrimental to it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Rastelli
- Inserm U975; UPMC-Paris 6, UMR_S 975; CNRS UMR 7225, Brain and Spine Institute, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
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Abstract
Attention and awareness are often considered to be related. Some forms of attention can, however, facilitate the processing of stimuli that remain unseen. It is unclear whether this dissociation extends beyond selection on the basis of primitive properties, such as spatial location, to situations in which there are more complex bases for attentional selection. The experiment described here shows that attentional selection at the level of objects can take place without giving rise to awareness of those objects. Pairs of objects were continually masked, which rendered them invisible to participants performing a cued-target-discrimination task. When the cue and target appeared within the same object, discrimination was faster than when they appeared in different objects at the same spatial separation. Participants reported no awareness of the objects and were unable to detect them in a signal-detection task. Object-based attention, therefore, is not sufficient for object awareness.
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Chica AB, Valero-Cabre A, Paz-Alonso PM, Bartolomeo P. Causal Contributions of the Left Frontal Eye Field to Conscious Perception. Cereb Cortex 2012; 24:745-53. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhs357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Chica AB, Bartolomeo P, Lupiáñez J. Two cognitive and neural systems for endogenous and exogenous spatial attention. Behav Brain Res 2012; 237:107-23. [PMID: 23000534 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.09.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 188] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2012] [Revised: 09/12/2012] [Accepted: 09/16/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Orienting of spatial attention is a family of phylogenetically old mechanisms developed to select information for further processing. Information can be selected via top-down or endogenous mechanisms, depending on the goals of the observers or on the task at hand. Moreover, salient and potentially dangerous events also attract spatial attention via bottom-up or exogenous mechanisms, allowing a rapid and efficient reaction to unexpected but important events. Fronto-parietal brain networks have been demonstrated to play an important role in supporting spatial attentional orienting, although there is no consensus on whether there is a single attentional system supporting both endogenous and exogenous attention, or two anatomical and functionally different attentional systems. In the present paper we review behavioral evidence emphasizing the differential characteristics of both systems, as well as their possible interactions for the control of the final orienting response. Behavioral studies reporting qualitative differences between the effects of both systems as well as double dissociations of the effects of endogenous and exogenous attention on information processing, suggest that they constitute two independent attentional systems, rather than a single one. Recent models of attentional orienting in humans have put forward the hypothesis of a dorsal fronto-parietal network for orienting spatial attention, and a more ventral fronto-parietal network for detecting unexpected but behaviorally relevant events. Non-invasive neurostimulation techniques, as well as neuropsychological data, suggest that endogenous and exogenous attention are implemented in overlapping, although partially segregated, brain circuits. Although more research is needed in order to refine our anatomical and functional knowledge of the brain circuits underlying spatial attention, we conclude that endogenous and exogenous spatial orienting constitute two independent attentional systems, with different behavioral effects, and partially distinct neural substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana B Chica
- INSERM-UPMC UMRS 975, Brain and Spine Institute, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
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Manipulation of pre-target activity on the right frontal eye field enhances conscious visual perception in humans. PLoS One 2012; 7:e36232. [PMID: 22615759 PMCID: PMC3352916 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2012] [Accepted: 03/28/2012] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The right Frontal Eye Field (FEF) is a region of the human brain, which has been consistently involved in visuo-spatial attention and access to consciousness. Nonetheless, the extent of this cortical site’s ability to influence specific aspects of visual performance remains debated. We hereby manipulated pre-target activity on the right FEF and explored its influence on the detection and categorization of low-contrast near-threshold visual stimuli. Our data show that pre-target frontal neurostimulation has the potential when used alone to induce enhancements of conscious visual detection. More interestingly, when FEF stimulation was combined with visuo-spatial cues, improvements remained present only for trials in which the cue correctly predicted the location of the subsequent target. Our data provide evidence for the causal role of the right FEF pre-target activity in the modulation of human conscious vision and reveal the dependence of such neurostimulatory effects on the state of activity set up by cue validity in the dorsal attentional orienting network.
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Chica AB, Paz-Alonso PM, Valero-Cabre A, Bartolomeo P. Neural Bases of the Interactions between Spatial Attention and Conscious Perception. Cereb Cortex 2012; 23:1269-79. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhs087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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41
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Chica AB, Botta F, Lupiáñez J, Bartolomeo P. Spatial attention and conscious perception: Interactions and dissociations between and within endogenous and exogenous processes. Neuropsychologia 2012; 50:621-9. [PMID: 22266110 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.12.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2011] [Revised: 12/22/2011] [Accepted: 12/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ana B Chica
- INSERM-UPMC UMRS 975, Brain and Spine Institute, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
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Marchetti G. Against the View that Consciousness and Attention are Fully Dissociable. Front Psychol 2012; 3:36. [PMID: 22363307 PMCID: PMC3279725 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2011] [Accepted: 01/31/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, I will try to show that the idea that there can be consciousness without some form of attention, and high-level top-down attention without consciousness, originates from a failure to notice the varieties of forms that top-down attention and consciousness can assume. I will present evidence that: there are various forms of attention and consciousness; not all forms of attention produce the same kind of consciousness; not all forms of consciousness are produced by the same kind of attention; there can be low-level attention (or preliminary attention), whether of an endogenous or exogenous kind, without consciousness; attention cannot be considered the same thing as consciousness.
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Wyart V, Dehaene S, Tallon-Baudry C. Early dissociation between neural signatures of endogenous spatial attention and perceptual awareness during visual masking. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 6:16. [PMID: 22363274 PMCID: PMC3277271 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2011] [Accepted: 01/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationship between spatial attention and conscious access has often been pictured as a single causal link: spatial attention would provide conscious access to weak stimuli by increasing their effective contrast during early visual processing. To test this hypothesis, we assessed whether the early attentional amplification of visual responses, around 100 ms following stimulus onset, had a decisive impact on conscious detection. We recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals while participants focused their attention toward or away from masked stimuli which were physically identical but consciously detected half of the time. Spatial attention increased the amplitude of early occipital responses identically for both detected and missed stimuli around 100 ms, and therefore, did not control conscious access. Accordingly, spatial attention did not increase the proportion of detected stimuli. The earliest neuromagnetic correlate of conscious detection, around 120 ms over the contralateral temporal cortex, was independent from the locus of attention. This early activation combined objective information about stimulus presence and subjective information about stimulus visibility, and was followed by a late correlate of conscious reportability, from 220 ms over temporal and frontal cortex, which correlated exclusively with stimulus visibility. This widespread activation coincided in time with the reorienting of attention triggered by masks presented at the uncued location. This reorienting was stronger and occurred earlier when the masked stimulus was detected, suggesting that the conscious detection of a masked stimulus at an unexpected location captures spatial attention. Altogether, these results support a double dissociation between the neural signatures of endogenous spatial attention and perceptual awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin Wyart
- Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Cerveau-Moelle (CRICM), Unité Mixte de Recherche CNRS/INSERM, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris, France
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44
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Chica AB, Bartolomeo P. Attentional routes to conscious perception. Front Psychol 2012; 3:1. [PMID: 22279440 PMCID: PMC3260467 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2011] [Accepted: 01/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationships between spatial attention and conscious perception are currently the object of intense debate. Recent evidence of double dissociations between attention and consciousness cast doubt on the time-honored concept of attention as a gateway to consciousness. Here we review evidence from behavioral, neurophysiologic, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging experiments, showing that distinct sorts of spatial attention can have different effects on visual conscious perception. While endogenous, or top-down attention, has weak influence on subsequent conscious perception of near-threshold stimuli, exogenous, or bottom-up forms of spatial attention appear instead to be a necessary, although not sufficient, step in the development of reportable visual experiences. Fronto-parietal networks important for spatial attention, with peculiar inter-hemispheric differences, constitute plausible neural substrates for the interactions between exogenous spatial attention and conscious perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana B. Chica
- INSERM-UPMC UMRS 975, Brain and Spine Institute, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-SalpêtrièreParis, France
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of GranadaGranada, Spain
| | - Paolo Bartolomeo
- INSERM-UPMC UMRS 975, Brain and Spine Institute, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-SalpêtrièreParis, France
- AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Fédération de NeurologieParis, France
- Department of Psychology, Catholic UniversityMilan, Italy
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45
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Tallon-Baudry C. On the neural mechanisms subserving consciousness and attention. Front Psychol 2012; 2:397. [PMID: 22291674 PMCID: PMC3253412 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2011] [Accepted: 12/22/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Consciousness, as described in the experimental literature, is a multi-faceted phenomenon, that impinges on other well-studied concepts such as attention and control. Do consciousness and attention refer to different aspects of the same core phenomenon, or do they correspond to distinct functions? One possibility to address this question is to examine the neural mechanisms underlying consciousness and attention. If consciousness and attention pertain to the same concept, they should rely on shared neural mechanisms. Conversely, if their underlying mechanisms are distinct, then consciousness and attention should be considered as distinct entities. This paper therefore reviews neurophysiological facts arguing in favor or against a tight relationship between consciousness and attention. Three neural mechanisms that have been associated with both attention and consciousness are examined (neural amplification, involvement of the fronto-parietal network, and oscillatory synchrony), to conclude that the commonalities between attention and consciousness at the neural level may have been overestimated. Last but not least, experiments in which both attention and consciousness were probed at the neural level point toward a dissociation between the two concepts. It therefore appears from this review that consciousness and attention rely on distinct neural properties, although they can interact at the behavioral level. It is proposed that a “cumulative influence model,” in which attention and consciousness correspond to distinct neural mechanisms feeding a single decisional process leading to behavior, fits best with available neural and behavioral data. In this view, consciousness should not be considered as a top-level executive function but should rather be defined by its experiential properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Tallon-Baudry
- INSERM U975, CNRS UMR7225, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moëlle épinière, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6 UMR-S975 Paris, France
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46
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Kusnir F, Chica AB, Mitsumasu MA, Bartolomeo P. Phasic auditory alerting improves visual conscious perception. Conscious Cogn 2011; 20:1201-10. [PMID: 21349743 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2010] [Revised: 01/24/2011] [Accepted: 01/28/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Attention is often conceived as a gateway to consciousness (Posner, 1994). Although endogenous spatial attention may be independent of conscious perception (CP) (Koch Tsuchiya, 2007), exogenous spatial orienting seems instead to be an important modulator of CP (Chica, Lasaponara, Lupiáñez, Doricchi, & Bartolomeo, 2010; Chica, Lasaponara, et al., 2011). Here, we investigate the role of auditory alerting in CP in normal observers. We used a behavioral task in which phasic alerting tones were presented either at unpredictable or at predictable time intervals prior to the occurrence of a near-threshold visual target. We find, for the first time in neurologically intact observers, that phasic alertness increases CP, both objectively and subjectively. This result is consistent with evidence showing that phasic alerting can ameliorate the spatial bias exhibited by visual neglect patients (Robertson, Mattingley, Rorden, & Driver, 1998). The alerting network may increase the activity of fronto-parietal networks involved in top-down amplification required to bring a stimulus into consciousness (Dehaene, Changeux, Naccache, Sackur, & Sergent, 2006).
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Affiliation(s)
- Flor Kusnir
- INSERM-U 975, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moëlle Epinière (CRICM) et Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
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