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Sustained visuospatial attention enhances lateralized anticipatory ERP activity in sensory areas

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Abstract

The existence of neural correlates of spatial attention is not limited to the reactive stage of stimulus processing: neural activities subtending spatial attention are deployed well ahead of stimulus onset. ERP evidence supporting this proactive (top-down) attentional control is based on trial-by-trial S1–S2 paradigms, where the onset of a directional cue (S1) indicates on which side attention must be directed to respond to an upcoming target stimulus (S2). Crucially, S1 onset trigger both attention and motor preparation, therefore, these paradigms are not ideal to demonstrate the effect of attention at preparatory stage of processing. To isolate top-down anticipatory attention, the present study used a sustained attention paradigm based on a steady cue that indicates the attended side constantly throughout an entire block of trials, without any onset of an attentional cue. The main result consists in the description of the attention effect on the visual negativity (vN) component, a growing neural activity starting before stimulus presentation in extrastriate visual areas. The vN was consistently lateralized in the hemisphere contralateral to the attended side, regardless of the hand to be used. At the opposite, the lateralized motor activity emerged long after, confirming that the hand-selection process followed the spatial attention orientation process. The present study confirms the anticipatory nature of the vN component and corroborate its role in terms of preparatory visuospatial attention.

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Funding

This study has been supported by operating funds of the University of Rome “Foro Italico” and of the Santa Lucia Foundation of Rome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Di Russo, Marika Berchicci, Elena Mussini, Rinaldo Livio Perri, Sabrina Pitzalis, Federico Quinzi & Donatella Spinelli

  2. IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Di Russo, Valentina Bianco & Sabrina Pitzalis

  3. University “Niccolò Cusano”, Rome, Italy

    Rinaldo Livio Perri

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Sara Tranquilli

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  1. Francesco Di Russo
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  2. Marika Berchicci
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  3. Valentina Bianco
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  4. Elena Mussini
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  5. Rinaldo Livio Perri
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  9. Donatella Spinelli
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Correspondence to Francesco Di Russo.

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The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Santa Lucia Foundation (approval number CE/PROG.521).

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Di Russo, F., Berchicci, M., Bianco, V. et al. Sustained visuospatial attention enhances lateralized anticipatory ERP activity in sensory areas. Brain Struct Funct 226, 457–470 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-020-02192-6

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