The Role of Alpha Oscillations in Spatial Attention: Limited Evidence for a Suppression Account

Overview

Journal Curr Opin Psychol

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty Psychology

Date 2018 Nov 26

PMID 30472541

Citations 67

Authors

Joshua J Foster

Edward Awh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Covert spatial attention allows us to prioritize visual processing at relevant locations. A fast growing literature suggests that alpha-band (8-12 Hz) oscillations play a key role in this core cognitive process. It is clear that alpha-band activity tracks both the locus and timing of covert spatial orienting. There is limited evidence, however, for the widely embraced view that alpha oscillations suppress irrelevant visual information during spatial selection. Extant evidence is equally compatible with an account in which alpha activity enables spatial selection through signal enhancement rather than distractor suppression. Thus, more work is needed to characterize the computational role of alpha activity in spatial attention.

Citing Articles

Don't look there: Assessing the suppression of cued-to-be-ignored locations.

Lien M, Ruthruff E, Tolomeo D, Reitan K Atten Percept Psychophys. 2025; .

PMID: 39979541 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-025-03033-6.

Pre-stimulus activities affect subsequent visual processing: Empirical evidence and potential neural mechanisms.

Dehaghani N, Zarei M Brain Behav. 2025; 15(2):e3654.

PMID: 39907172 PMC: 11795279. DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3654.

Predicting the Irrelevant: Neural Effects of Distractor Predictability Depend on Load.

Lui T, Obleser J, Wostmann M Eur J Neurosci. 2025; 61(2):e70005.

PMID: 39853833 PMC: 11760630. DOI: 10.1111/ejn.70005.

Neural mechanisms of object prioritization in vision.

Grignolio D, Meyyappan S, Geng J, Mangun G, Hickey C bioRxiv. 2025; .

PMID: 39829862 PMC: 11741355. DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.09.632156.

Self-selected versus imposed running intensity and the acute effects on mood, cognition, and (a)periodic brain activity.

Braunsmann L, Beermann F, Struder H, Abeln V Cogn Neurodyn. 2024; 18(5):2221-2241.

PMID: 39555283 PMC: 11564500. DOI: 10.1007/s11571-024-10084-2.

References

Iemi L, Busch N . Moment-to-Moment Fluctuations in Neuronal Excitability Bias Subjective Perception Rather than Strategic Decision-Making. eNeuro. 2018; 5(3). PMC: 6002263. DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0430-17.2018. View

Hermes D, Nguyen M, Winawer J . Neuronal synchrony and the relation between the blood-oxygen-level dependent response and the local field potential. PLoS Biol. 2017; 15(7):e2001461. PMC: 5524566. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001461. View

Serences J, Yantis S, Culberson A, Awh E . Preparatory activity in visual cortex indexes distractor suppression during covert spatial orienting. J Neurophysiol. 2004; 92(6):3538-45. DOI: 10.1152/jn.00435.2004. View

Haegens S, Luther L, Jensen O . Somatosensory anticipatory alpha activity increases to suppress distracting input. J Cogn Neurosci. 2011; 24(3):677-85. DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00164. View

Clayton M, Yeung N, Cohen Kadosh R . The roles of cortical oscillations in sustained attention. Trends Cogn Sci. 2015; 19(4):188-95. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.02.004. View

van Moorselaar D, Foster J, Sutterer D, Theeuwes J, Olivers C, Awh E . Spatially Selective Alpha Oscillations Reveal Moment-by-Moment Trade-offs between Working Memory and Attention. J Cogn Neurosci. 2017; 30(2):256-266. PMC: 6022736. DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01198. View

Limbach K, Corballis P . Prestimulus alpha power influences response criterion in a detection task. Psychophysiology. 2016; 53(8):1154-64. DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12666. View

Worden M, Foxe J, Wang N, Simpson G . Anticipatory biasing of visuospatial attention indexed by retinotopically specific alpha-band electroencephalography increases over occipital cortex. J Neurosci. 2000; 20(6):RC63. PMC: 6772495. View

Iemi L, Chaumon M, Crouzet S, Busch N . Spontaneous Neural Oscillations Bias Perception by Modulating Baseline Excitability. J Neurosci. 2017; 37(4):807-819. PMC: 6597018. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1432-16.2016. View

10.

Sprague T, Saproo S, Serences J . Visual attention mitigates information loss in small- and large-scale neural codes. Trends Cogn Sci. 2015; 19(4):215-26. PMC: 4532299. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.02.005. View

11.

Haegens S, Nacher V, Luna R, Romo R, Jensen O . α-Oscillations in the monkey sensorimotor network influence discrimination performance by rhythmical inhibition of neuronal spiking. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; 108(48):19377-82. PMC: 3228466. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1117190108. View

12.

Clayton M, Yeung N, Cohen Kadosh R . The many characters of visual alpha oscillations. Eur J Neurosci. 2017; 48(7):2498-2508. DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13747. View

13.

Mathewson K, Gratton G, Fabiani M, Beck D, Ro T . To see or not to see: prestimulus alpha phase predicts visual awareness. J Neurosci. 2009; 29(9):2725-32. PMC: 2724892. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3963-08.2009. View

14.

Postle B . The cognitive neuroscience of visual short-term memory. Curr Opin Behav Sci. 2015; 1:40-46. PMC: 4621097. DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2014.08.004. View

15.

Handel B, Haarmeier T, Jensen O . Alpha oscillations correlate with the successful inhibition of unattended stimuli. J Cogn Neurosci. 2010; 23(9):2494-502. DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2010.21557. View

16.

Kelly S, Foxe J, Newman G, Edelman J . Prepare for conflict: EEG correlates of the anticipation of target competition during overt and covert shifts of visual attention. Eur J Neurosci. 2010; 31(9):1690-700. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07219.x. View

17.

Payne L, Sekuler R . The importance of ignoring: Alpha oscillations protect selectivity. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2014; 23(3):171-177. PMC: 4266987. DOI: 10.1177/0963721414529145. View

18.

Rihs T, Michel C, Thut G . Mechanisms of selective inhibition in visual spatial attention are indexed by alpha-band EEG synchronization. Eur J Neurosci. 2007; 25(2):603-10. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05278.x. View

19.

Brouwer G, Heeger D . Decoding and reconstructing color from responses in human visual cortex. J Neurosci. 2009; 29(44):13992-4003. PMC: 2799419. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3577-09.2009. View

20.

Spaak E, Bonnefond M, Maier A, Leopold D, Jensen O . Layer-specific entrainment of γ-band neural activity by the α rhythm in monkey visual cortex. Curr Biol. 2012; 22(24):2313-8. PMC: 3528834. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.020. View