Dynamic changes in phase-amplitude coupling facilitate spatial attention control in fronto-parietal cortex.
Sara M Szczepanski1, Nathan E Crone2, Rachel A Kuperman3
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Plos Biology
|August 27, 2014
Summary
This study reveals how the brain
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neurophysiology
Background:
- Attention involves the fronto-parietal attentional control network.
- Previous research used neuroimaging but lacked fine spatiotemporal resolution.
- Dynamic interactions within this network remain poorly understood at sub-second scales.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dynamic interactions within the human fronto-parietal network controlling visuospatial attention.
- To examine these interactions on a fine spatiotemporal scale (sub-second, sub-centimeter).
Main Methods:
- Electrocorticography (ECoG) signals were recorded from 8 patients with epilepsy.
- Participants performed a spatial-cuing task requiring visuospatial attention.
- High gamma (HG) power and delta/theta oscillations were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Elevated HG power (70-250 Hz) was observed in frontal, parietal, and visual areas during attention allocation.
- HG power increases were modulated by delta/theta (2-5 Hz) oscillation phase.
- Delta/theta phase-HG amplitude coupling strength predicted reaction times on a trial-by-trial basis.
Conclusions:
- Delta/theta phase-HG amplitude coupling is a key mechanism for sub-second attentional facilitation.
- This coupling facilitates coordination within the human fronto-parietal cortex.
- Momentary attentional demands guide these neural interactions.
