Entrainment of Neuronal Oscillations as a Mechanism of Attentional Selection

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 320; no. 5872; pp. 110 - 113
• Main Authors: Lakatos, Peter, Karmos, George, Mehta, Ashesh D., Ulbert, Istvan, Schroeder, Charles E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 04.04.2008; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Animals; Attention - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain research; Cues; Delta Rhythm; Electroencephalography; Electrophysiology; Experimentation; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geometric lines; Macaca fascicularis; Male; Mental stimulation; Miscellaneous; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Neuroscience; Periodicity; Photic Stimulation; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reaction Time; streams; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; visual cortex; Visual Cortex - physiology; Visual Perception; Visual stimulation; Visual cortex; Central nervous system; Excitability; Cognition; Low frequency; Encephalon; Selective attention; Visual pathway; Vision; Oscillation; Reaction time; Perception; Coupling; Visual attention
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1154735

Whereas gamma-band neuronal oscillations clearly appear integral to visual attention, the role of lower-frequency oscillations is still being debated. Mounting evidence indicates that a key functional property of these oscillations is the rhythmic shifting of excitability in local neuronal ensembles. Here, we show that when attended stimuli are in a rhythmic stream, delta-band oscillations in the primary visual cortex entrain to the rhythm of the stream, resulting in increased response gain for task-relevant events and decreased reaction times. Because of hierarchical cross-frequency coupling, delta phase also determines momentary power in higher-frequency activity. These instrumental functions of low-frequency oscillations support a conceptual framework that integrates numerous earlier findings.