Evidence of Rhythmic Environmental Sampling in a Cued Temporal Attention Paradigm

An accumulated body of research supports a rhythmic model of environmental attentional sampling, oscillating in the theta-band (3—8 Hz). This phenomenon has largely been investigated in visuospatial and object-oriented attention domains. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between exploratory saccadic activity and spatial attention sampling, predicated on a common theta rhythm. It has been proposed that perceptual sensitivity and likelihood to saccade are in antiphase to each other, mediated by an overarching control network fluctuating at a theta rate. This mechanism is hypothesized to resolve the conflict between sensory and motor processes, allowing for shifts of attention in between periods of heightened sensitivity, thereby facilitating cognitive flexibility. Behavioral evidence of this attentional rhythm in domains beyond visuospatial attention would support a more generalized model, providing even stronger evidence of periodic capture of the environment. We investigate rhythmicity in attention sampling by using a modified Posner cueing paradigm employing high-density sampling across a range of cue-target intervals. We observed periodic fluctuations in mean reaction time (RT) that oscillated in the 3—8 Hz range. The oscillation was attenuated in the attended condition, replicating results found in previous rhythmic sampling research, but extending the evidence to temporal attention.