Theta Rhythmic Neuronal Activity and Reaction Times Arising from Cortical Receptive Field Interactions during Distributed Attention

Current Biology : CB
Ricardo KienitzMichael C Schmid

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that distributed spatial attention may invoke theta (3-9 Hz) rhythmic sampling processes. The neuronal basis of such attentional sampling is, however, not fully understood. Here we show using array recordings in visual cortical area V4 of two awake macaques that presenting separate visual stimuli to the excitatory center and suppressive surround of neuronal receptive fields (RFs) elicits rhythmic multi-unit activity (MUA) at 3-6 Hz. This neuronal rhythm did not depend on small fixational eye movements. In the context of a distributed spatial attention task, during which the monkeys detected a spatially and temporally uncertain target, reaction times (RTs) exhibited similar rhythmic fluctuations. RTs were fast or slow depending on the target occurrence during high or low MUA, resulting in rhythmic MUA-RT cross-correlations at theta frequencies. These findings show that theta rhythmic neuronal activity can arise from competitive RF interactions and that this rhythm may result in rhythmic RTs potentially subserving attentional sampling.

Citations

Jun 19, 2019·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Alessandro BenedettoAlice Tomassini
Dec 18, 2019·Journal of Vision·Alessandro Benedetto, Maria Concetta Morrone
Dec 31, 2019·PsyCh Journal·Lihan Chen
May 24, 2019·Journal of Vision·Mehdi SenoussiLaura Dugué
Sep 14, 2019·Annual Review of Psychology·Ian C Fiebelkorn, Sabine Kastner
May 1, 2020·Cerebral Cortex·Katharine A ShapcottMichael C Schmid
Nov 19, 2019·Vision·Michael I Posner, Cristopher M Niell
Oct 10, 2020·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Alexander Maier, Naotsugu Tsuchiya
Jan 15, 2021·Attention, Perception & Psychophysics·Zhongbin SuXiaolin Zhou
Dec 6, 2020·Current Biology : CB·Ricardo KienitzMichael C Schmid
Dec 18, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Airui ChenMing Zhang
May 5, 2021·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Elio BalestrieriDavid Melcher
Jun 8, 2021·International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology·Victor N Almeida
Oct 14, 2021·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Ricardo KienitzLaura Dugué
Dec 12, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Jacob A WesterbergAlexander Maier

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