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| Research article summary (published 18 May 2003): |
Modulations of early somatosensory ERP components by transient and sustained spatial attention.
Full Abstract
To investigate when and how spatial attention affects somatosensory processing, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to mechanical tactile stimuli delivered to the left and right hand while attention was directed to one of these hands. The attended hand either remained constant throughout an experimental block (sustained attention), or was changed across successive trials (transient attention). Attentional modulations of the N140 component and a sustained 'processing negativity' for attended stimuli were observed in both attention conditions. However, attentional effects on earlier somatosensory components differed systematically. Sustained attention resulted in a contralateral negativity overlapping with the N80 component, while transient attention was reflected by a bilateral positivity overlapping with the P100 component. This dissociation indicates that sustained and transient attention affect different somatosensory areas. It is suggested that sustained attention can modulate tactile processing within primary somatosensory cortex (S1), while effects of transient attention are located beyond S1. Overall, results demonstrate that spatial selectivity in touch is mediated by activity modulations in modality-specific somatosensory cortex.
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Author information
Author/s: Eimer, Martin (M); Forster, Bettina (B);
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK. m.eimer(-atsign-)bbk.ac.uk
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale (Exp Brain Res), published in Germany. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 151 (issue 1) : pp 24-31
Dates: Created 2003/08/19; Completed 2003/09/09; Revised 2008/02/15;
PMID: 12756516, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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