Two brain pathways for attended and ignored words

Ruz, Marı́a; Wolmetz, Michael; Tudela, Pı́o; McCandliss, Bruce D.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.05.031

Cited by 37 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…The response to the visual words was only moderately reduced by inattention in the ventral visual pathway, consistent with the fact that the unattended words are nevertheless ''seen.'' In contrast, the response was almost suppressed by inattention in regions mediating semantic and phonological processes in the Broca's area and the precentral gyrus, in agreement with recent fMRI studies showing that the activation generated by unattended stimuli is suppressed in task-relevant brain regions during high attentional load tasks [Rees et al, 1999;Ruz et al, 2005;Yi et al, 2004].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The neural bases of attentive reading

Jung

Mainy

Kahane

et al. 2007

Human Brain Mapping

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Recent studies have suggested that attention facilitates the formation of synchronous neural assemblies in the gamma range (>40 Hz) to amplify behaviorally relevant signals. Whether this mechanism is general or confined to sensory cortices is still a matter of debate, since there is little evidence of a direct link between attention and increased gamma synchronization in high-level brain regions. We recorded the intracerebral EEG of 10 epileptic patients while manipulating their attention during reading, and compared the neural responses to attended and unattended words. Visual presentation of attended words induced gamma band responses in the major brain regions associated with reading and those responses were attenuated for unattended words. The attenuation was not uniform within the reading network but followed a gradient from the posterior visual to the frontal areas. Altogether, these results support the view that the gamma band response can be used as a quantitative marker of attention.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The neural bases of attentive reading

Jung

Mainy

Kahane

et al. 2007

Human Brain Mapping

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“…The findings provide further experimental evidence that attention can modulate postperceptual stages of word processing, such as semantic analysis or integration (Miniussi, Marzi, & Nobre, 2005;Rees, Russell, et al, 1999;Bentin et al, 1995;McCarthy & Nobre, 1993;Holcomb, 1988). The findings do not, of course, rule out some residual semantic processing of unattended words (Ruz, Wolmetz, Tudela, & McCandliss, 2005;Ruz, Worden, Tudela, & McCandliss, 2005;Marcel & Patterson, 1978). The precise languagerelated processes modulated by spatial attention during the N400 period remain uncertain, as there is yet no definitive consensus regarding the neural basis or functional significance of the N400.…”

Section: Spatial Orientingmentioning

confidence: 77%

Differential Modulation of Word Recognition by Semantic and Spatial Orienting of Attention

Cristescu¹,

Nobre²

2008

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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In the present study, we investigated the ability to orient attention to abstract associative features of complex stimuli, more specifically, to the semantic categories of visual word stimuli. We compared the behavioral and electrophysiological effects of semantic orienting with those elicited by spatial orienting to word stimuli. Two parallel, cued lexical-decision tasks, with semantic- or spatial-orienting cues, were used. Results showed that both semantic and spatial orienting facilitated behavioral performance. The event-related potential analysis revealed different and non-overlapping patterns of modulation of word processing by semantic and spatial orienting. Modulation by semantic orienting started later, affecting only the potentials linked to conceptual or semantic processing (N300 and N400). The pattern of N300/N400 modulation in the semantic-orienting condition was similar to that observed in semantic-priming tasks, and was compatible with the operation of controlled semantic processes. Spatial orienting significantly enhanced the amplitude of the early visual potential P1 as well as the language-related N400 potential. These findings showed that the similar end-result of behavioral facilitation by semantic and spatial orienting is achieved through largely distinct mechanisms acting upon separate levels of stimulus analysis.

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“…Other experiments have manipulated the expectations to perform either a verbal or a perceptual/spatial task, to show modulations of language-related ERP components such as the inferior temporal negativity (Lai & Mangels, 2007) or the N400 (Cristescu & Nobre, in press; see also Miniussi, Marzi, & Nobre, 2005). Whereas these and many other studies show that attention modulates language processes, there is also a great deal of reports suggesting that unattended words are also analyzed to a certain extent (e.g., Pesciarelli et al, 2007;Ruz, Wolmetz, Tudela, & McCandliss, 2005;Ruz, Worden, Tudela, & McCandliss, 2005;McCann, Remington, & Van Selst, 2000;Luck, Vogel, & Shapiro, 1996;Stroop, 1935).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention Modulates Initial Stages of Visual Word Processing

Ruz

Nobre²

2008

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Abstract& Selective attention has the potential to enhance the initial processing of objects, their spatial locations, or their constituent features. The present study shows that this capacity to modulate initial stages of processing also applies to linguistic attributes. A cueing paradigm focused attention at different levels of word representations on a trial-by-trial basis to study the time course of attentional modulation on visual word processing by means of a high-density electrophysiology recording system. Attention to different linguistic attributes modulated components related to semantic, phonological, and orthographic stages of word processing. Crucially, the N200, associated with initial stages of orthographic decoding, was enhanced by attention to the letter pattern of words. These results suggest that top-down attention has the capacity to enhance initial perceptual stages of visual word processing and support the flexibility of attention in modulating different levels of information processing depending on task goals. &

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Two brain pathways for attended and ignored words

Cited by 37 publications

References 71 publications

The neural bases of attentive reading

The neural bases of attentive reading

Differential Modulation of Word Recognition by Semantic and Spatial Orienting of Attention

Attention Modulates Initial Stages of Visual Word Processing

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