Behavioral performance follows the time course of neural facilitation and suppression during cued shifts of feature-selective attention

‪Søren K. Andersen; Müller, Matthias M. · 2010 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1002436107

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates whether visual processing relies on a strictly limited resource that must be allocated by selective attention, specifically examining the temporal dynamics of neural facilitation and suppression during cued shifts of feature-selective attention. The authors address a central question in attention research: if attention is a limited resource, enhancing an attended stimulus should invariably suppress unattended distracters. Previous studies using spatially separated stimuli showed purely facilitatory effects, suggesting attention might add resources rather than redistribute them. To resolve this, Andersen and Müller examined attentional modulation when attended and unattended stimuli occupy the same spatial location, testing if reciprocal enhancement and suppression occur concurrently. The researchers used steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) recorded via human EEG to measure neural activity in real-time. Participants viewed two completely overlapping random dot kinematograms (RDKs) of different colors (red and blue), flickering at distinct frequencies (11.98 Hz and 16.77 Hz). A central color cue indicated which RDK to attend to for detecting coherent motion targets while ignoring the other. This design allowed the concurrent measurement of neural processing for both attended and unattended stimuli at a shared spatial location. Source localization using variable resolution electromagnetic tomography identified the cortical origins of these SSVEP modulations. The results revealed a biphasic neural process that was not temporally synchronized. Enhancement of the attended RDK began approximately 220 ms after cue onset, while suppression of the unattended RDK began roughly 130 ms later, around 356 ms. Both effects lasted throughout the stimulation period. Crucially, behavioral performance, measured by reaction times, was significantly correlated with a measure of neural selectivity (the difference between attended and unattended amplitudes) but not with total activity (the sum of both). Maximum behavioral performance occurred between 287 and 429 ms, overlapping the intersection of significant amplitude amplification and suppression. Cortical sources were localized to early visual areas V1–V3. The findings suggest that feature-selective attention involves distinct neural mechanisms for enhancement and suppression. The authors propose that an early sensory gain mechanism enhances the attended stimulus, which subsequently biases competition between overlapping stimuli, leading to delayed suppression of the unattended stimulus via mutual inhibition. This temporal dissociation challenges the notion of a simple, reciprocal resource allocation model. Instead, behavioral performance is best explained by the relative difference in processing between attended and unattended stimuli, analogous to signal detection theory, rather than absolute changes in neural activity. This implies that attentional selection of color involves a complex interplay of facilitatory and suppressive processes occurring at different stages of visual processing.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• attention selective divided