Opposing neural processing modes alternate rhythmically during sustained auditory attention.

ABSTRACT: During continuous tasks, humans show spontaneous fluctuations in performance, putatively caused by varying attentional resources allocated to process external information. If neural resources are used to process other, presumably "internal" information, sensory input can be missed and explain an apparent dichotomy of "internal" versus "external" attention. In the current study, we extract presumed neural signatures of these attentional modes in human electroencephalography (EEG): neural entrainment and α-oscillations (~10-Hz), linked to the processing and suppression of sensory information, respectively. We test whether they exhibit structured fluctuations over time, while listeners attend to an ecologically relevant stimulus, like speech, and complete a task that requires full and continu

SUBMITTER: Kasten FH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11393317 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature