Attentional Modulation of Alpha/Beta and Gamma Oscillations Reflect Functionally Distinct Processes
Open accessAbstract
The brain adapts to dynamic environments by adjusting the attentional gain or precision afforded to salient and predictable sensory input. Previous research suggests that this involves the regulation of cortical excitability (reflected in prestimulus alpha oscillations) before stimulus onset that modulates subsequent stimulus processing (reflected in stimulus-bound gamma oscillations). We present two spatial attention experiments in humans, where we first replicate the classic finding of prestimulus attentional alpha modulation and poststimulus gamma modulation. In the second experiment, the task-relevant target was a stimulus change that occurred after stimulus onset. This enabled us to show that attentional alpha modulation reflects the predictability (precision) of an upcoming sensory target, rather than an attenuation of alpha activity induced by neuronal excitation related to stimulus onset. In particular, we show that the strength of attentional alpha modulations increases with the predictability of the anticipated sensory target, regardless of current afferent drive. By contrast, we show that the poststimulus attentional gamma enhancement is stimulus-bound and decreases when the subsequent target becomes more predictable. Hence, this pattern suggests that the strength of gamma oscillations is not merely a function of cortical excitability, but also depends on the relative mismatch of predictions and sensory evidence. Together, these findings support recent theoretical proposals for distinct roles of alpha/beta and gamma oscillations in hierarchical perceptual inference and predictive coding.
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Oscillatory dynamics play a role in regulating cortical processing, especially the gamma (40 to 90 Hz) and alpha/beta (10 to 30 Hz) bands.
“But there is mounting evidence that oscillatory dynamics play a role in regulating cortical processing and thus can also play a role, especially the gamma (40 to 90 Hz) and alpha/beta (10 to 30 Hz) bands (1, 18–25).”
From Layer and rhythm specificity for predictive routing (2020) · cites this paper as [20]
The Introduction (page unavailable) describes distinct attentional effects of alpha/beta and gamma oscillations, supporting their relevance to cortical processing. Materials and Methods (page unavailable) analyzes low frequencies at 2.5–30 Hz and high frequencies at 40–150 Hz; it does not establish the claim’s specific 10–30 Hz and 40–90 Hz band ranges. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Bauer, M., Stenner, M.-P., Friston, K. J., & Dolan, R. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2014-11-26
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 48
- Pages
- 16117-16125
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC4244475
- OpenAlex
- W1982748320
- Cited by
- 224
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 9.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (091593, 091593/Z/10/, 098362, 098362/Z/12/Z, 091593/Z/10/Z, 088130, 098362/Z/12/, 087756/Z/08/Z)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (091593/Z/10/Z., STE 2091/1-1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- gamma oscillations, beta oscillations, spatial attention, predictability, cortical excitability, predictive coding, perceptual inference, sensory evidence, hierarchical processing
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alpha Rhythm, Attention, Beta Rhythm, Female, Humans, Male, Photic Stimulation, Magnetoencephalography, Young Adult, Gamma Rhythm
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