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Attending points in time and space

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Abstract

Both spatial and temporal attention improves auditory processing and these effects seem to originate at perceptual processing stages. It is not yet known if space and time are used in parallel or sequentially for stimulus selection. To directly compare when temporal and spatial attention affect stimulus processing in the auditory modality, short and long empty intervals (600 and 1,200 ms) were presented. Each interval started with a centrally presented tone (S1) and ended with a second tone (S2) presented either on the left or on the right side. Participants had to attend one point in time (offset of the short or long interval) and one position (left or right side) and had to respond to infrequent, deviant offset markers presented at the attended time point and at the attended position. The N1 of concurrently recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to the frequent standard stimuli was enhanced by both temporal and spatial attention. The temporal and the spatial N1 attention effect had a similar scalp topography, suggesting common neural generators. By contrast, later effects of temporal and spatial attention, consisting of a posterior positivity and an anterior negativity, markedly differed.

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Notes

  1. In a repeated measures ANOVA with the factors attended time (attended vs. unattended), stimulus position (left vs. right), attended position (left vs. right), hemisphere (left vs. right) and Cluster (seven levels), no significant interactions between hemisphere, stimulus position and attended position were observed (all P>0.1944), indicating that there was no lateralization of spatial attention effects depending on the position of the stimulus.

  2. For standards presented after the long interval, a repeated-measures ANOVA with the factors attended time (attended vs. unattended), attended position (attended vs. unattended), hemisphere (contralateral vs. ipsilateral), and cluster (seven levels) was conducted. The mean amplitude of the time interval 90–130 ms was submitted as dependent variable. Effects of both temporal attention (attended time: F(1, 11)=16.34, P=0.0019, attended time × cluster: F(6, 66)=7.67, P=0.0011, ε=0.4294), and spatial attention (attended position × cluster: F(6, 66)=3.32, P=0.0329, ε=.4891) were significant.

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Acknowledgements

The study was conducted at the Psychology Department of the Philipps-University, Marburg (Germany). The study was supported by grants Ro 1226/4-1, 4-2 and For 254/2-1, 2-2 to B.R. of the German Research Foundation (DFG)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Kathrin Lange

  2. Department of Psychology II, Neuropsychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

    Ulrike M. Krämer

  3. Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Brigitte Röder

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  1. Kathrin Lange
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  2. Ulrike M. Krämer
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  3. Brigitte Röder
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Correspondence to Kathrin Lange.

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Lange, K., Krämer, U.M. & Röder, B. Attending points in time and space. Exp Brain Res 173, 130–140 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0372-3

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