Attention flexibly trades off across points in time

Denison, Rachel; Heeger, David J.; Carrasco, Marisa

doi:10.3758/s13423-016-1216-1

Cited by 54 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Conversely, delayed responses were less efficient for low predictability trials when the duration of the delay interval was highly variable. These results were consistent with the finding of a recent behavioural study in which cueing participants to a point in time can lead to perceptual improvements at expected time points but impairments at unexpected time points (Denison, Heeger, & Carrasco, 2017). We suggest that the duration of delay interval in our study may serve as a temporal cue and establish expectations about the occurrence of the test probe.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Temporal expectation modulates the neural dynamics of delayed responses to working memory representations

Chen

Kuo

2020

Preprint

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Temporal expectation can induce anticipatory attention to enhance perceptual processing and optimise behaviours. However, it remains unexplored whether temporal expectation benefits delayed responses to information maintained in working memory (WM) and the underlying neural dynamics that support the benefits. Here we addressed these issues in behavioural and electroencephalography (EEG) experiments. Participants performed a rotation discrimination WM task. Temporal expectation was manipulated by varying the predictability for when a test probe would occur after a delay interval. We first demonstrated that temporal predictability benefited WM performance. Our EEG results showed decreased alpha power over the left posterior brain regions during the delay interval for high than low predictability trials.Importantly, we found earlier enhancement of the lateralised alpha power and the lateralised readiness potential for high than low predictability trials when WM contents were accessed for responses during the probe period. Finally, we found concurrent selection and preparation for responses when the probe onset was predictable but motor preparation lagged behind response selection when the probe onset was more variable. Together, this study provides new insights into the proactive, dynamic nature of the anticipatory deployment of attention in guiding WM maintenance and delayed responses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Temporal expectation modulates the neural dynamics of delayed responses to working memory representations

Chen

Kuo

2020

Preprint

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“…The observers were the same as in Denison et al (2017) Stimuli were generated on an Apple iMac using Matlab and Psychophysics Toolbox (Brainard,122 1997; Pelli, 1997;Kleiner et al, 2007). They were displayed on a gamma-corrected Sony 123…”

Section: Observers 108mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Voluntarily directing attention to a relevant time increases perceptual sensitivity at that time 38 (Correa et Denison et al, 2017) and decreases sensitivity at other times, resulting in attentional tradeoffs 40 . The mechanisms underlying the allocation and perceptual effects of 41 voluntary temporal attention remain poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Directing voluntary temporal attention increases fixational stability

Denison

Yuval-Greenberg

Carrasco

2018

Preprint

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1Our visual input is constantly changing, but not all moments are equally relevant. Temporal 2 attention, the prioritization of visual information at specific points in time, increases perceptual 3 sensitivity at behaviorally relevant times. The dynamic processes underlying this increase are 4 unclear. During fixation, humans make small eye movements called microsaccades, and 5inhibiting microsaccades improves perception of brief stimuli. Here we asked whether temporal 6attention changes the pattern of microsaccades in anticipation of brief stimuli. Human observers 7(female and male) judged brief stimuli presented within a short sequence. They were given 8 either an informative precue to attend to one of the stimuli, which was likely to be probed, or an 9 uninformative (neutral) precue. We found strong microsaccadic inhibition before the stimulus 10 sequence, likely due to its predictable onset. Critically, this anticipatory inhibition was stronger 11when the first target in the sequence (T1) was precued (task-relevant) than when the precue 12 was uninformative. Moreover, the timing of the last microsaccade before T1 and the first 13 microsaccade after T1 shifted, such that both occurred earlier when T1 was precued than when 14 the precue was uninformative. Finally, the timing of the nearest pre-and post-T1 microsaccades 15 affected task performance. Directing voluntary temporal attention therefore impacts 16 microsaccades, helping to stabilize fixation at the most relevant moments, over and above the 17 effect of predictability. Just as saccading to a relevant stimulus can be an overt correlate of the 18 allocation of spatial attention, precisely timed gaze stabilization can be an overt correlate of the 19 allocation of temporal attention. 20 21 Significance statement 22 We pay attention at moments in time when a relevant event is likely to occur. Such temporal 23 attention improves our visual perception, but how it does so is not well understood. Here we 24 discovered a new behavioral correlate of voluntary, or goal-directed, temporal attention. We 25found that the pattern of small fixational eye movements called microsaccades changes around 26 behaviorally relevant moments in a way that stabilizes the position of the eyes. Microsaccades 27 during a brief visual stimulus can impair perception of that stimulus. Therefore, such fixation 28 stabilization may contribute to the improvement of visual perception at attended times. This link 29suggests that in addition to cortical areas, subcortical areas mediating eye movements may be 30 recruited with temporal attention. 31 3

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“…As a case study, here we analyzed data for a study on temporal attention -the prioritization of 117 sensory information at specific points in time (Denison, Heeger, & Carrasco, 2017). Combining 118 information about the expected timing of sensory events with ongoing task goals improves our 119 perception and behavior (review by Nobre & van Ede, 2018).…”

Section: Introduction 21mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling pupil responses to rapid sequential events

Denison

Parker

Carrasco

2019

Preprint

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Pupil size is an easily accessible, noninvasive online indicator of various perceptual and cognitive processes. Pupil measurements have the potential to reveal continuous processing dynamics throughout an experimental trial, including anticipatory responses. However, the relatively sluggish (∼2 s) response dynamics of pupil dilation make it challenging to connect changes in pupil size to events occurring close together in time. Researchers have used models to link changes in pupil size to specific trial events, but such methods have not been systematically evaluated. Here we developed and evaluated a general linear model (GLM) pipeline that estimates pupillary responses to multiple rapid events within an experimental trial. We evaluated the modeling approach using a sample dataset in which multiple sequential stimuli were presented within 2-s trials. We found: (1) Model fits improved when the pupil impulse response function (puRF) was fit for each observer. PuRFs varied substantially across individuals but were consistent for each individual. (2) Model fits also improved when pupil responses were not assumed to occur simultaneously with their associated trial events, but could have non-zero latencies. For example, pupil responses could anticipate predictable trial events. (3) Parameter recovery confirmed the validity of the fitting procedures, and we quantified the reliability of the parameter estimates for our sample dataset. (4) A cognitive task manipulation modulated pupil response amplitude. We provide our pupil analysis pipeline as open-source software (Pupil Response Estimation Toolbox: PRET) to facilitate the estimation of pupil responses and the evaluation of the estimates in other datasets.

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Attention flexibly trades off across points in time

Cited by 54 publications

References 46 publications

Temporal expectation modulates the neural dynamics of delayed responses to working memory representations

Temporal expectation modulates the neural dynamics of delayed responses to working memory representations

Directing voluntary temporal attention increases fixational stability

Modeling pupil responses to rapid sequential events

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