Auditory Attention Activates Peripheral Visual Cortex
Author Information
Author(s): Cate Anthony D., Herron Timothy J., Yund E. William, Stecker G. Christopher, Rinne Teemu, Kang Xiaojian, Petkov Christopher I., Disbrow Elizabeth A., Woods David L.
Primary Institution: Human Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Veterans Administration Northern California Health Care System
Hypothesis
What are the task determinants and functional significance of auditory occipital activations (AOAs)?
Conclusion
Auditory attention activates peripheral regions of visual cortex when subjects focus on sound sources outside their visual field.
Supporting Evidence
- Auditory occipital activations were found in all subjects when they actively discriminated sounds.
- AOAs were larger during attention to unimodal auditory sequences and during more difficult auditory-attention conditions.
- AOAs were not generated by unattended sounds regardless of their acoustic properties.
- AOAs showed significant functional coupling with attention-related activations in auditory cortex.
Takeaway
When people listen carefully to sounds, parts of their brain that usually help them see things in the corner of their eyes also get active.
Methodology
The study used fMRI to examine auditory occipital activations during an intermodal selective attention task.
Limitations
The study had a small sample size and focused only on young adults with normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing.
Participant Demographics
Nine individuals aged 18–34 years, including 8 males and 2 left-handed participants.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.005
Statistical Significance
p<0.005
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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