Jj. Foxe et al., Parieto-occipital similar to 10 Hz activity reflects anticipatory state ofvisual attention mechanisms, NEUROREPORT, 9(17), 1998, pp. 3929-3933
HIGH-DENSITY EEG recordings revealed sensory specific modulation of anticip
atory parieto-occipital similar to 10 Hz oscillatory activity when visually
presented word cues instructed subjects in an intermodal selective attenti
on paradigm. Cueing attention to the auditory features of imminent compound
audio-visual stimuli resulted in significantly higher similar to 10 Hz amp
litude in the period preceding onset-of this stimulus than when attention w
as cued to the visual features. We propose that this parieto-occipital simi
lar to 10 Hz activity reflects a disengaged visual attentional system in pr
eparation for anticipated auditory input that is attentionally more relevan
t. Conversely, lower similar to 10 Hz activity during the attend-visual con
dition may reflect active engagement of parieto-occipital areas in the anti
cipatory period. These results support models implicating parieto-occipital
areas in the directing and maintenance of visual attention. NeuroReport 9:
3929-3933 (C) 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.