Cortico-Cortical Interactions in Spatial Attention: A Combined ERP/TMS Study

1 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom; 2 Department of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, United Kingdom; and 3 Section of Neurological Rehabilitation, Department of Neurological and Visual Scien...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of neurophysiology 2006-05, Vol.95 (5), p.3277-3280
Main Authors: Fuggetta, Giorgio, Pavone, Enea F, Walsh, Vincent, Kiss, Monika, Eimer, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attention - physiology
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Electroencephalography - methods
Evoked Potentials, Visual - physiology
Evoked Potentials, Visual - radiation effects
Female
Functional Laterality - physiology
Humans
Male
Photic Stimulation - methods
Reaction Time - physiology
Reaction Time - radiation effects
Space Perception - physiology
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
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Summary:1 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom; 2 Department of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, United Kingdom; and 3 Section of Neurological Rehabilitation, Department of Neurological and Visual Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy Submitted 5 December 2005; accepted in final form 17 January 2006 To gain insight into the neural basis of visual attention, we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and event-related potentials (ERPs) during a visual search task. Single-pulse TMS over right posterior parietal cortex (rPPC) delayed response times to targets during conjunction search, and this behavioral effect had a direct ERP correlate. The early phase of the N2pc component that reflects the focusing of attention onto target locations in a search display was eliminated over the right hemisphere when TMS was applied there but was present when TMS was delivered to a control site (vertex). This finding demonstrates that rPPC TMS interferes with attentional selectivity in remote visual areas. Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: G. Fuggetta, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Dept. of Psychology, University College London, 17 Queen Sq., London, WC1N 3AR, UK (E-mail: gfuggetta{at}yahoo.it )
ISSN:0022-3077
1522-1598
DOI:10.1152/jn.01273.2005