EEG Correlates of Attentional Load during Multiple Object Tracking
Open Access
- 26 July 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 6 (7), e22660
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022660
Abstract
While human subjects tracked a subset of ten identical, randomly-moving objects, event-related potentials (ERPs) were evoked at parieto-occipital sites by task-irrelevant flashes that were superimposed on either tracked (Target) or non-tracked (Distractor) objects. With ERPs as markers of attention, we investigated how allocation of attention varied with tracking load, that is, with the number of objects that were tracked. Flashes on Target discs elicited stronger ERPs than did flashes on Distractor discs; ERP amplitude (0–250 ms) decreased monotonically as load increased from two to three to four (of ten) discs. Amplitude decreased more rapidly for Target discs than Distractor discs. As a result, with increasing tracking loads, the difference between ERPs to Targets and Distractors diminished. This change in ERP amplitudes with load accords well with behavioral performance, suggesting that successful tracking depends upon the relationship between the neural signals associated with attended and non-attended objects.This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- The role of "rescue saccades" in tracking objects through occlusionsJournal of Vision, 2010
- Neural Correlates of Sequence Encoding in Visuomotor LearningJournal of Neurophysiology, 2010
- No capacity limit in attentional tracking: Evidence for probabilistic inference under a resource constraintJournal of Vision, 2009
- Using fMRI to distinguish components of the multiple object tracking taskJournal of Vision, 2009
- Sudden Death and Gradual Decay in Visual Working MemoryPsychological Science, 2009
- Visual Learning in Multiple-Object TrackingPLOS ONE, 2008
- Enumeration versus multiple object tracking: the case of action video game playersCognition, 2006
- Objects Are Highlighted by Spatial AttentionJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2006
- Objects Are Highlighted by Spatial AttentionJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2006
- Brain Areas Specific for Attentional Load in a Motion-Tracking TaskJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2001