title: Alpha, beta: The rhythm of the attentional blink.
abstract: Extant theories of the attentional blink propose that the most critical factor in determining second target accuracy is the time that elapses between the first and second targets. We report that this conclusion has overlooked an equally important determinant, namely, the frequency of the entraining stream in which these targets are embedded. Specifically, we show in two experiments that the signature of the attentional blink-second target accuracy that increases with intertarget lag-is significantly larger for entraining streams that are in the alpha-beta frequency range, relative to streams that are slower (theta) or faster (gamma). This finding ties the attentional blink critically, for the first time, to these two prominent oscillation frequencies that are known to be involved in the control of human attention and consciousness.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. k.l.shapiro@bham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Kimron L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanslmayr
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: James T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Enns
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel St., Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61820, USA.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lleras
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D054518:Attentional Blink / Q000502:physiology*; D001611:Beta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alpha; Attention; Attentional blink; Beta; Oscillations