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Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control
Published on: July 5, 2015
The effect of attention on the auditory steady-state response
B Ross1, T W Picton, A T Herdman
1The Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, ON, Canada. bernhard.ross@ieee.org
Neurology & Clinical Neurophysiology : NCN
|July 14, 2005
Summary
Focused attention enhances 40-Hz auditory steady state responses (ASSRs) detected via magnetoencephalography, particularly in the left hemisphere. Transient neural responses were unaffected by attention, suggesting specific modulation of sustained auditory processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Perception
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) are neural oscillations synchronized to periodic auditory stimuli.
- Focused attention is known to modulate sensory processing, but its specific effects on different neural responses remain under investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of focused attention on 40-Hz auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
- To differentiate the attentional modulation of sustained ASSRs from transient neural responses like gamma-band and N1 potentials.
Main Methods:
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record brain activity.
- Participants performed a modulation discrimination task (attended condition) and a destructive visual task (non-attended condition).
- 40-Hz amplitude-modulated tones were presented to elicit ASSRs.
Main Results:
- Significantly enhanced sustained responses were observed under the focused attention condition compared to the non-attended condition.
- The attentional effect on ASSR amplitude was predominantly found in the left hemisphere between 200 and 500 ms post-stimulus onset.
- Transient gamma-band and N1 responses showed no significant modulation by the attentional state.
Conclusions:
- Focused attention selectively enhances sustained 40-Hz auditory steady-state responses, indicating a specific neural mechanism for attentional modulation in auditory processing.
- The findings suggest that attention primarily affects sustained neural activity rather than transient responses in the auditory cortex.
- MEG is a valuable tool for investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of attentional effects on auditory processing.
