Involuntary capture of attention produces domain-specific activation.
In this study, we ask whether or not the involuntary capture of attention by a specific information type can produce domain-specific activation. Participants indicated the presence of a flicker in rapidly alternating letter-string masks presented in the periphery. Despite letters not being relevant to the task, we found, using functional MRI and a novel task that allowed us to contrast attended and unattended processing of the same visual information, a robust modulation by attentional capture in a localized letter-processing region. This finding suggests that the involuntary capture of attention is sufficient to produce domain-specific activation in early visual processing.
Finkbeiner
Matthew
M
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. matthew.finkbeiner@maccs.mq.edu.au
Slotnick
Scott D
SD
Moo
Lauren R
LR
Caramazza
Alfonso
A
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
D010100:Oxygen