Object-based attention prioritizes working memory contents at a theta rhythm

Peters, Benjamin; Kaiser, Jochen; Rahm, Benjamin; Bledowski, Christoph · 2018 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1101/369652

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Summary

This study investigates whether attentional selection of information held in working memory (WM) operates rhythmically, similar to the rhythmic prioritization observed in perceptual processing. While previous research established that attention to external stimuli fluctuates at theta (4–12 Hz) and alpha frequencies, it remained unclear if this mechanism extends to internal representations. The authors hypothesized that object-based attention in WM would oscillate at a theta rhythm, with an anti-phase relationship between attended and unattended objects. To test this, 30 participants performed a delayed match-non-match task. They memorized four spatial positions forming two objects. During the retention interval, a retro-cue indicated one position. Probes then appeared at the cued position, the uncued position on the same object, or the uncued position on the different object. Crucially, the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) between cue and probe was varied with high temporal resolution (33.3 ms steps from 200 to 1000 ms) to capture dynamic fluctuations in reaction times (RTs). The results confirmed that object-based attention in WM is rhythmic. RTs for probes at the same-object position oscillated significantly at 6 Hz (theta range). These oscillations exhibited an anti-phase relationship with RTs at the different-object position, indicating that attentional prioritization fluctuated rhythmically between the two objects. Specifically, the benefit for the same-object position peaked periodically (e.g., at 550 ms, 683 ms, and 950 ms) and vanished at intermediate points, while RTs at the different-object position never surpassed those at the same-object position. This pattern suggests that attention remained focused on the cued object but rhythmically expanded to include the entire object versus remaining localized. No such rhythmic fluctuations were observed at the directly cued position, implying stable focal attention there. These findings demonstrate that attentional oscillations are a general mechanism of information processing, applicable to both perceptual and mnemonic contents. The similarity between rhythmic attention in perception and WM suggests shared neural substrates, likely involving theta-mediated fronto-parietal networks. This challenges models assuming stable attentional allocation in WM, proposing instead that attention dynamically reweights priorities in a rhythmic fashion to facilitate flexible access to internal representations.

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• attention selective divided