Shifting visual attention away from fixation is specifically associated with alpha band activity over ipsilateral parietal regions

  1. Diego Cosmelli1,2,
  2. Vladimir López1,
  3. Jean-Philippe Lachaux3,4,
  4. Javier López-Calderón5,6,
  5. Bernard Renault7,8,9,
  6. Jacques Martinerie7,8,9,
  7. Francisco Aboitiz2,6

Article first published online: 19 JUL 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01066.x

Issue

Psychophysiology

Psychophysiology

Volume 48, Issue 3, pages 312–322, March 2011

Additional Information

How to Cite

Cosmelli, D., López, V., Lachaux, J.-P., López-Calderón, J., Renault, B., Martinerie, J. and Aboitiz, F. (2011), Shifting visual attention away from fixation is specifically associated with alpha band activity over ipsilateral parietal regions. Psychophysiology, 48: 312–322. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01066.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

  2. 2

    Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia, Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

  3. 3

    Unité 280, INSERM 151, Lyon, France

  4. 4

    Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France

  5. 5

    Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA

  6. 6

    Laboratorio de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

  7. 7

    UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7225, UMR-S 975, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Cerveau-Moelle (CRICM), Paris, France

  8. 8

    CNRS, UMR 7225, CRICM, Paris, France

  9. 9

    INSERM, UMR-S 975, CRICM, Paris, France

*Address correspondence to: Diego Cosmelli, Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago de Chile, Chile. E-mail: dcosmelli@uc.cl

  1. The authors thank Steven Hillyard for insightful comments on a previous version of this work. This work was supported by FONDECYT projects 3060094, 1090612, and PBCT-CONICYT PSD72.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 9 FEB 2011
  2. Article first published online: 19 JUL 2010
  3. (Received October 30, 2009; Accepted March 31, 2010)

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Keywords:

  • EEG;
  • Alpha band;
  • Parietal cortex;
  • No-shift;
  • Central cue

Abstract

We studied brain activity during the displacement of attention in a modified visuo-spatial orienting paradigm. Using a behaviorally relevant no-shift condition as a control, we asked whether ipsi- or contralateral parietal alpha band activity is specifically related to covert shifts of attention. Cue-related event-related potentials revealed an attention directing anterior negativity (ADAN) contralateral to the shift of attention and P3 and contingent negative variation waveforms that were enhanced in both shift conditions as compared to the no-shift task. When attention was shifted away from fixation, alpha band activity over parietal regions ipsilateral to the attended hemifield was enhanced relative to the control condition, albeit with different dynamics in the upper and lower alpha subbands. Contralateral-to-attended parietal alpha band activity was indistinguishable from the no-shift task.

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