EEG alpha oscillations in the preparation for global and local processing predict behavioral performance

Visual attention can be directed either to the global features of a display or to the local elements that make up the display. We investigated whether oscillatory brain responses to globally or locally directed cue stimuli predict behavioral performance in subsequent target processing. Induced alpha band (8–12 Hz) amplitudes in the pre‐stimulus interval were measured separately for the global and the local level, where individual trials were assigned to one of three groups according to the response speed towards incongruent stimuli. Fast responses to local features were associated with high alpha amplitudes in the right centro‐parietal cortex, whereas fast responses to global forms were associated with high alpha in left centro‐parietal cortex. For trials with slower responses, the pattern of hemispheric differences was diminished or even reversed. It is interpreted that the left and the right parietal cortex exert top–down control over hierarchical processing by inhibiting stimulus representations in one hemisphere. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

[1]  K. Linkenkaer-Hansen,et al.  Prestimulus Oscillations Enhance Psychophysical Performance in Humans , 2004, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[2]  G. V. Simpson,et al.  Anticipatory Biasing of Visuospatial Attention Indexed by Retinotopically Specific α-Bank Electroencephalography Increases over Occipital Cortex , 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[3]  G. Volberg,et al.  Hemispheric differences for global/local processing in divided attention tasks: Further evidence for the integration theory , 2007, Perception & psychophysics.

[4]  M G Woldorff,et al.  Hemispheric asymmetries for different components of global/local attention occur in distinct temporo-parietal loci. , 2005, Cerebral cortex.

[5]  R. Egly,et al.  Spatial attention and cuing to global and local levels of hierarchical structure. , 1993, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[6]  D. Navon Forest before trees: The precedence of global features in visual perception , 1977, Cognitive Psychology.

[7]  M H Van Kleeck,et al.  Hemispheric differences in global versus local processing of hierarchical visual stimuli by normal subjects: new data and a meta-analysis of previous studies. , 1989, Neuropsychologia.

[8]  J. Schoffelen,et al.  Prestimulus Oscillatory Activity in the Alpha Band Predicts Visual Discrimination Ability , 2008, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[9]  Lawrence R. Frank,et al.  Functional MRI of Global and Local Processing in Children , 2002, NeuroImage.

[10]  G. Volberg,et al.  On the role of response conflicts and stimulus position for hemispheric differences in global/local processing: an ERP study , 2004, Neuropsychologia.

[11]  P Berg,et al.  A multiple source approach to the correction of eye artifacts. , 1994, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[12]  L. Robertson,et al.  Neuropsychological contributions to theories of part/whole organization , 1991, Cognitive Psychology.

[13]  T. Stoffer,et al.  The time course of attentional zooming: A comparison of voluntary and involuntary allocation of attention to the levels of compound stimuli , 1993, Psychological research.

[14]  R. Knight,et al.  Component mechanisms underlying the processing of hierarchically organized patterns: inferences from patients with unilateral cortical lesions. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[15]  W. Klimesch,et al.  EEG alpha oscillations: The inhibition–timing hypothesis , 2007, Brain Research Reviews.

[16]  Christian Büchel,et al.  Integration of local features to a global percept by neural coupling. , 2006, Cerebral cortex.

[17]  Do the hemispheres differ in their preparation for global/local processing? , 2006, Experimental Brain Research.

[18]  A. Dale,et al.  The Retinotopy of Visual Spatial Attention , 1998, Neuron.

[19]  O. Jensen,et al.  Modulation of Gamma and Alpha Activity during a Working Memory Task Engaging the Dorsal or Ventral Stream , 2007, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[20]  Arno Villringer,et al.  A Physiological Correlate of the “Zoom Lens” of Visual Attention , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[21]  L. M. Ward,et al.  Synchronous neural oscillations and cognitive processes , 2003, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[22]  J. Schoffelen,et al.  Oscillatory activity in human parietal and occipital cortex shows hemispheric lateralization and memory effects in a delayed double-step saccade task. , 2007, Cerebral cortex.

[23]  Scott O. Murray,et al.  Hemispheric Asymmetry in Global/Local Processing: Effects of Stimulus Position and Spatial Frequency , 2002, NeuroImage.

[24]  H. Heinze,et al.  Electrophysiological correlates of hierarchical stimulus processing: Dissociation between onset and later stages of global and local target processing , 1993, Neuropsychologia.

[25]  G. Thut,et al.  Mechanisms of selective inhibition in visual spatial attention are indexed by α‐band EEG synchronization , 2007, The European journal of neuroscience.

[26]  J. Sergent The cerebral balance of power: confrontation or cooperation? , 1982, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[27]  H. Spekreijse,et al.  Event-related desynchronization during anticipatory attention for an upcoming stimulus: a comparative EEG/MEG study , 2001, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[28]  Simon Hanslmayr,et al.  Prestimulus oscillations predict visual perception performance between and within subjects , 2007, NeuroImage.

[29]  Á. Pascual-Leone,et al.  α-Band Electroencephalographic Activity over Occipital Cortex Indexes Visuospatial Attention Bias and Predicts Visual Target Detection , 2006, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[30]  Shingo Yamagata,et al.  Cerebral Asymmetry of the “Top-Down” Allocation of Attention to Global and Local Features , 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[31]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task , 1974 .

[32]  Ronald Hübner,et al.  The effect of spatial frequency on global precedence and hemispheric differences , 1997, Perception & psychophysics.

[33]  T. Stoffer Attentional zooming and the global-dominance phenomenon: Effects of level-specific cueing and abrupt visual onset , 1994, Psychological research.

[34]  G. Pfurtscheller,et al.  Event-related cortical desynchronization detected by power measurements of scalp EEG. , 1977, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.