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Zhang Y, Zhang X, Lu X, Chen N. Attention spotlight in V1-based cortico-cortical interactions in human visual hierarchy. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13140. [PMID: 38849423 PMCID: PMC11161588 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63817-y] [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: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Attention is often viewed as a mental spotlight, which can be scaled like a zoom lens at specific spatial locations and features a center-surround gradient. Here, we demonstrate a neural signature of attention spotlight in signal transmission along the visual hierarchy. fMRI background connectivity analysis was performed between retinotopic V1 and downstream areas to characterize the spatial distribution of inter-areal interaction under two attentional states. We found that, compared to diffused attention, focal attention sharpened the spatial gradient in the strength of the background connectivity. Dynamic causal modeling analysis further revealed the effect of attention in both the feedback and feedforward connectivity between V1 and extrastriate cortex. In a context which induced a strong effect of crowding, the effect of attention in the background connectivity profile diminished. Our findings reveal a context-dependent attention prioritization in information transmission via modulating the recurrent processing across the early stages in human visual cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyu Zhang
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Xilin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, Guangdong, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, Guangdong, China
| | - Xincheng Lu
- Department of psychological and cognitive sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Nihong Chen
- Department of psychological and cognitive sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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2
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Kolnes M, Uusberg A, Nieuwenhuis S. Broadening of attention dilates the pupil. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:146-158. [PMID: 37801189 PMCID: PMC10770199 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02793-3] [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] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Inconclusive evidence suggests that the pupil is more dilated when the breadth of attention is broad compared to narrow. To further investigate this relationship, we recorded pupil size from healthy volunteers while inducing trial-wise changes in breadth of attention using a shape-discrimination task where participants had to remember the location of a gap in a small or a large circle. A visual search task with targets presented at different distances from the centre of the screen was used to behaviourally assess the success of the manipulation of breadth of attention. Data were analysed using a generalised additive mixed model to test the experimental effects on pupil size after controlling for the effects of gaze location and eye vergence. The results showed that the pupil was more dilated in the broad-breadth-of-attention condition compared to the narrow-breadth-of-attention condition. However, the effect of attentional breadth on visual search performance was not mediated by pupil size, suggesting that more research is needed to understand the functional role of pupil dilation in relation to breadth of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kolnes
- Department of Psychology Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Näituse 2, 50409, Tartu, Estonia.
- Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Andero Uusberg
- Department of Psychology Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Näituse 2, 50409, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Sander Nieuwenhuis
- Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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3
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Wang S, Karabay A, Akyürek EG. Attentional blur and blink: Effects of adaptive attentional scaling on visual awareness. Conscious Cogn 2024; 117:103627. [PMID: 38157820 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Attentional scaling is a crucial mechanism that enables us to flexibly allocate our attention to larger or smaller regions in the visual field. Although previous studies have demonstrated the critical role of attentional scaling in visual processing, its impact on modulating visual awareness is not yet fully understood. This study investigates the adaptive control of attentional scaling and its influence on visual awareness in an attentional blink paradigm. Participants were required to attend to the first target's location, which was manipulated either session-wise, trial-wise, or such that it could be learned across a block of trials. Discrete, all-or-none, awareness was expected when attention was allocated to a narrow area, while gradual awareness was expected when attention was allocated to a larger area. We used mixture modeling to assess second target awareness across these different attentional scales. The results revealed that participants could adaptively control their attentional scale both across stable sessions, and through (implicit) statistical learning in blocks of successive trials. This produced gradual perceptual awareness when the participants adopted a broad attentional scale, causing an attentional "blur". However, trial-wise cues did not allow for attentional scaling, resulting in more discrete target perception overall, and an attentional "blink". We conclude that the attentional scale is to some extent under adaptive control during the attentional blink/blur, where it can produce qualitatively different modes of perceptual awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyao Wang
- Department of Psychology, Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Aytaç Karabay
- Department of Psychology, Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Elkan G Akyürek
- Department of Psychology, Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Vilotijević A, Mathôt S. Emphasis on peripheral vision is accompanied by pupil dilation. Psychon Bull Rev 2023; 30:1848-1856. [PMID: 37069422 PMCID: PMC10716087 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02283-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
People are best able to detect stimuli in peripheral vision when their pupils are large, and best able to discriminate stimuli in central vision when their pupils are small. However, it is unclear whether our visual system makes use of this by dilating the pupils when attention is directed towards peripheral vision. Therefore, throughout three experiments (N = 100), we tested whether pupil size adapts to the "breadth" of attention. We found that pupils dilate with increasing attentional breadth, both when attention is diffusely spread and when attention is directed at specific locations in peripheral vision. Based on our results and others, we propose that cognitively driven pupil dilation is not an epiphenomenal marker of locus coeruleus activity, as is often assumed, but rather is an adaptive response that reflects an emphasis on peripheral vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Vilotijević
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712TS, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Sebastiaan Mathôt
- Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712TS, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Wu X, Liu M, Wang A, Zhang M. Different attentional focus sizes modulate the size-eccentricity effect. Psych J 2023; 12:25-33. [PMID: 36167945 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.604] [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: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The size-eccentricity effect is a perceptual distortion phenomenon in which a peripherally located object is perceived to be smaller than a centrally located object. Although the increase in apparent object size caused by attention has been documented, little is known about the effect of different sizes of attentional focus on object appearance. The present study investigated how different sizes of attentional focus affect the size-eccentricity effect using a spatial pre-cueing paradigm. Additionally, we examined the influence of different task types on size perception. A peripheral object following a small attentional focus appeared larger, without observation of the size-eccentricity effect. In contrast, a peripheral object appeared smaller following a large attentional focus in both larger and smaller judgement tasks. These results suggest that the relative size of the attentional focus has opposite effects on the perception of object size, independent of task type. Furthermore, in addition to the structural properties of the retina and the locus of attention, the size of attentional focus determines the extent to which an object appears smaller in the periphery. The present study complements the attentional attraction field model of the size and density of population receptive fields in V1 and further explains how the effect of attention is restricted by retinal structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaogang Wu
- Department of Psychology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China
| | - Mingyuan Liu
- Department of Psychology, Research Center for Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Aijun Wang
- Department of Psychology, Research Center for Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Ming Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China
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Han Y, Tan Z, Zhuang H, Qian J. Contrasting effects of exogenous and endogenous attention on size perception. BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND : 1953) 2021; 113:153-175. [PMID: 34435351 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Although neuroimaging studies have shown that exogenous and endogenous attention are dissociable, only a few behavioural studies have explored their differential effects on visual sensitivity, and none have directly focused on visual appearance. Here, we show that exogenous and endogenous attention produces contrasting effects on apparent size. Participants performed a spatial pre-cueing comparative judgement task that had been frequently used to test the attentional effects on visual perception. The results showed that a smaller stimulus within the focus of exogenous attention was perceived to be equal in size as a larger unattended stimulus, whereas a larger stimulus within the focus of endogenous attention was perceived to be equal in size as a smaller unattended stimulus. In other words, exogenous attention increased the perceived size while endogenous attention decreased the perceived size. The contrasting effects may be attributed to the mechanism that exogenous attention favours parvocellular processing for which more neurons with smaller receptive fields (RFs) are activated for a given size, whereas endogenous attention favours magnocellular processing for which fewer neurons with larger RFs are activated. This finding shows that exogenous and endogenous attention acts differentially on size perception, and provides supportive evidence for the distinct mechanisms underlying the two types of attentional processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifei Han
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.,State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhihao Tan
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huang Zhuang
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiehui Qian
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
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Singhal I, Srinivasan N. Time and time again: a multi-scale hierarchical framework for time-consciousness and timing of cognition. Neurosci Conscious 2021; 2021:niab020. [PMID: 34394957 PMCID: PMC8358708 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niab020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporality and the feeling of ‘now’ is a fundamental property of consciousness. Different conceptualizations of time-consciousness have argued that both the content of our experiences and the representations of those experiences evolve in time, or neither have temporal extension, or only content does. Accounting for these different positions, we propose a nested hierarchical model of multiple timescales that accounts for findings on timing of cognition and phenomenology of temporal experience. This framework hierarchically combines the three major philosophical positions on time-consciousness (i.e. cinematic, extensional and retentional) and presents a common basis for temporal experience. We detail the properties of these hierarchical levels and speculate how they could coexist mechanistically. We also place several findings on timing and temporal experience at different levels in this hierarchy and show how they can be brought together. Finally, the framework is used to derive novel predictions for both timing of our experiences and time perception. The theoretical framework offers a novel dynamic space that can bring together sub-fields of cognitive science like perception, attention, action and consciousness research in understanding and describing our experiences both in and of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ishan Singhal
- Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
| | - Narayanan Srinivasan
- Department of Cognitive Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
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Abstract
Eriksen's zoom model of attention implies a trade-off between the breadth and resolution of representations of information. Following this perspective, we used Eriksen's flanker task to investigate culture's influence on attentional allocation and attentional resolution. In Experiment 1, the spatial distance of the flankers was varied to test whether people from Eastern cultures (here, Turks) experienced more interference than people from Western cultures (here, Americans) when flankers were further from the target. In Experiment 2, the contrast of the flankers was varied. The pattern of results shows that congruency of the flankers (Experiment 1) as well as the degree of contrast of the flankers compared with the target (Experiment 2) interact with participants' cultural background to differentially influence accuracy or reaction times. In addition, we used evidence accumulation modeling to jointly consider measures of speed and accuracy. Results indicate that to make decisions in the Eriksen flanker task, Turks both accumulate evidence faster and require more evidence than Americans do. These cultural differences in visual attention and decision-making have implications for a wide variety of cognitive processes.
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Relationship Between Task-Based and Parent Report-Based Measures of Attention and Executive Function in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC NEUROPSYCHOLOGY 2020; 6:176-188. [PMID: 33585167 DOI: 10.1007/s40817-020-00089-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
A majority of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have demonstrated attention and executive function deficits as measured by both parent report measures and performance on tasks requiring sustained levels of attention. However, prior studies have consistently reported a lack of association between parental report-based and task-based performance measures. The current study investigated whether changes in performance over time within-task (i.e., first-half versus second-half) better correspond to parental reports of executive function and temperament in children with FASD. Greater differences in split-half performance during a continuous performance task were found to be associated with higher parent-reported levels of behavioral regulation and inhibitory control. These findings suggest that within-task performance differences may more accurately reflect individual differences in executive function and temperament as measured by parental report and help to further inform the way in which cognitive processes are measured in children with FASD.
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When cognitive control harms rather than helps: individuals with high working memory capacity are less efficient at infrequent contraction of attentional breadth. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020; 85:1783-1800. [DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01344-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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