Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training.
Selective attention supports the prioritized processing of relevant sensory information to facilitate goal-directed behavior. Studies in human subjects demonstrate that attentional gain of cortical responses can sufficiently account for attention-related improvements in behavior. On the other hand,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-06-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2001724&type=printable |
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| author | Sirawaj Itthipuripat Kexin Cha Anna Byers John T Serences |
| author_facet | Sirawaj Itthipuripat Kexin Cha Anna Byers John T Serences |
| author_sort | Sirawaj Itthipuripat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Selective attention supports the prioritized processing of relevant sensory information to facilitate goal-directed behavior. Studies in human subjects demonstrate that attentional gain of cortical responses can sufficiently account for attention-related improvements in behavior. On the other hand, studies using highly trained nonhuman primates suggest that reductions in neural noise can better explain attentional facilitation of behavior. Given the importance of selective information processing in nearly all domains of cognition, we sought to reconcile these competing accounts by testing the hypothesis that extensive behavioral training alters the neural mechanisms that support selective attention. We tested this hypothesis using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure stimulus-evoked visual responses from human subjects while they performed a selective spatial attention task over the course of ~1 month. Early in training, spatial attention led to an increase in the gain of stimulus-evoked visual responses. Gain was apparent within ~100 ms of stimulus onset, and a quantitative model based on signal detection theory (SDT) successfully linked the magnitude of this gain modulation to attention-related improvements in behavior. However, after extensive training, this early attentional gain was eliminated even though there were still substantial attention-related improvements in behavior. Accordingly, the SDT-based model required noise reduction to account for the link between the stimulus-evoked visual responses and attentional modulations of behavior. These findings suggest that training can lead to fundamental changes in the way attention alters the early cortical responses that support selective information processing. Moreover, these data facilitate the translation of results across different species and across experimental procedures that employ different behavioral training regimes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-12a325001c9f45f081628d4e31286e1a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-12a325001c9f45f081628d4e31286e1a2025-01-17T05:30:43ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852017-06-01156e200172410.1371/journal.pbio.2001724Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training.Sirawaj ItthipuripatKexin ChaAnna ByersJohn T SerencesSelective attention supports the prioritized processing of relevant sensory information to facilitate goal-directed behavior. Studies in human subjects demonstrate that attentional gain of cortical responses can sufficiently account for attention-related improvements in behavior. On the other hand, studies using highly trained nonhuman primates suggest that reductions in neural noise can better explain attentional facilitation of behavior. Given the importance of selective information processing in nearly all domains of cognition, we sought to reconcile these competing accounts by testing the hypothesis that extensive behavioral training alters the neural mechanisms that support selective attention. We tested this hypothesis using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure stimulus-evoked visual responses from human subjects while they performed a selective spatial attention task over the course of ~1 month. Early in training, spatial attention led to an increase in the gain of stimulus-evoked visual responses. Gain was apparent within ~100 ms of stimulus onset, and a quantitative model based on signal detection theory (SDT) successfully linked the magnitude of this gain modulation to attention-related improvements in behavior. However, after extensive training, this early attentional gain was eliminated even though there were still substantial attention-related improvements in behavior. Accordingly, the SDT-based model required noise reduction to account for the link between the stimulus-evoked visual responses and attentional modulations of behavior. These findings suggest that training can lead to fundamental changes in the way attention alters the early cortical responses that support selective information processing. Moreover, these data facilitate the translation of results across different species and across experimental procedures that employ different behavioral training regimes.https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2001724&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Sirawaj Itthipuripat Kexin Cha Anna Byers John T Serences Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training. PLoS Biology |
| title | Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training. |
| title_full | Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training. |
| title_fullStr | Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training. |
| title_short | Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training. |
| title_sort | two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2001724&type=printable |
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