Spectral and Anatomical Patterns of Large-Scale Synchronization Predict Human Attentional Capacity

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Access rights

openAccess
acceptedVersion

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

16

Series

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), Volume 30, issue 10, pp. 5293-5308

Abstract

The capacity of visual attention determines how many visual objects may be perceived at any moment. This capacity can be investigated with multiple object tracking (MOT) tasks, which have shown that it varies greatly between individuals. The neuronal mechanisms underlying capacity limits have remained poorly understood. Phase synchronization of cortical oscillations coordinates neuronal communication within the fronto-parietal attention network and between the visual regions during endogenous visual attention. We tested a hypothesis that attentional capacity is predicted by the strength of pretarget synchronization within attention-related cortical regions. We recorded cortical activity with magneto- and electroencephalography (M/EEG) while measuring attentional capacity with MOT tasks and identified large-scale synchronized networks from source-reconstructed M/EEG data. Individual attentional capacity was correlated with load-dependent strengthening of theta (3-8 Hz), alpha (8-10 Hz), and gamma-band (30-120 Hz) synchronization that connected the visual cortex with posterior parietal and prefrontal cortices. Individual memory capacity was also preceded by crossfrequency phase-phase and phase-amplitude coupling of alpha oscillation phase with beta and gamma oscillations. Our results show that good attentional capacity is preceded by efficient dynamic functional coupling and decoupling within brain regions and across frequencies, which may enable efficient communication and routing of information between sensory and attentional systems.

Description

Other note

Citation

Rouhinen, S, Siebenhühner, F, Palva, J M & Palva, S 2020, 'Spectral and Anatomical Patterns of Large-Scale Synchronization Predict Human Attentional Capacity', Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), vol. 30, no. 10, pp. 5293-5308. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa110