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Related Experiment Video

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A Dual Task Procedure Combined with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Test Attentional Blink for Nontargets

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Published on: December 5, 2014

Sustained selective intermodal attention modulates processing of language-like stimuli.

Christian Keitel¹, Erich Schröger, Katja Saupe

¹Institut für Psychologie, Universität Leipzig, Seeburgstraße 14-20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Experimental Brain Research

|April 20, 2011

Summary

Intermodal attention selectively enhances neural responses to attended sensory input. This study shows sustained attention to auditory or visual streams boosts their respective brain responses, demonstrating frequency tagging

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Sensory Processing

Background:

Intermodal attention (IA) is theorized to direct limited neural resources to specific sensory modalities.
Understanding how IA modulates neural processing is crucial for explaining sensory integration.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of sustained intermodal attention on neural responses.
To explore the efficacy of frequency tagging for studying IA with complex stimuli.

Main Methods:

Concurrent presentation of amplitude-modulated auditory (multi-speech babble) and visual (nonsense letters) stimuli.
Trial-wise cueing for sustained attention to either the auditory or visual stream.
Measurement of auditory steady-state response (ASSR) and visual steady-state response (VSSR) amplitudes.

Main Results:

Attention to the auditory stream significantly increased ASSR amplitude.
Attention to the visual stream significantly increased VSSR amplitude.
IA selectively modulated processing of concurrent multisensory input during trial-by-trial cueing.

Conclusions:

Intermodal attention selectively enhances neural processing of attended sensory information.
Frequency tagging is a viable method for studying IA with complex, naturalistic stimuli.
IA plays a key role in modulating concurrent multisensory processing, even with rapid cueing.