Explore the vast range of titles available.

People shift their attention in the direction of another person's gaze. This phenomenon, called gaze cuing, shares properties with purely endogenous (i.e., \"deliberate\") and purely exogenous (i.e., \"reflexive\") control of spatial attention. For example, as with purely endogenous orienting, gaze cues appear at visual fixation; yet, as with purely exogenous orienting, gaze cues elicit shifts of attention rapidly after their appearance. Prior experiments have shown that when controlled endogenously versus exogenously, the effects of attention upon the processing of targets are dramatically different. Briand and Klein (1987; see also Briand, 1998) showed that endogenous orienting is additive with opportunities for illusory conjunctions, whereas exogenous orienting is interactive. Klein (1994) showed that endogenous orienting is interactive with nonspatial expectancies, whereas exogenous orienting is additive. In the present project, we applied this double-dissociation strategy to attention controlled by gaze cues. In Experiment 1, gaze cuing effects (in accuracy) were additive with opportunities for illusory conjunctions (akin to endogenous control), whereas in Experiment 2, gaze cuing was additive with the nonspatial expectancy effect (akin to exogenous orienting). Therefore, in the nature of its effects upon performance, gaze cuing functions like a hybrid of endogenous and exogenous orienting. Les gens dirigent leur attention vers la direction du regard d'une autre personne. Ce phénomène appelé « repère du regard » (gaze cueing) a plusieurs propriétés en commun avec le contrôle purement endogène (c.-à-d., délibéré) et purement exogène (c.-à-d., réfléchi) de l'attention spatiale. Par exemple, comme c'est le cas avec l'orientation strictement endogène, les repères du regard apparaissent avec la fixation visuelle. Pourtant, dans le cas de l'orientation strictement exogène, les repères du regard provoquent des changements d'attention rapidement après qu'ils se manifestent. Des expériences antérieures démontrent que, lorsqu'ils sont contrôlés de manière endogène plutôt qu'exogène, les effets de l'attention consécutifs au traitement des cibles sont complètement différents. Briand et Klein (1987; voir aussi Briand, 1998) ont démontré que l'orientation endogène s'additionne aux possibilités de conjonctions illusoires, tandis que l'orientation exogène est plutôt de nature interactive. Klein (1994) a en outre démontré que l'orientation endogène interagit avec les attentes de nature non spatiale, tandis que l'orientation exogène s'additionne à celles-ci. Dans le présent projet, nous avons appliqué cette stratégie de double dissociation à l'attention contrôlée par les repères du regard. Dans l'expérience 1, les effets des repères du regard (en termes de précision) s'additionnaient aux possibilités de conjonctions illusoires (comme dans le cas du contrôle endogène). Dans l'expérience 2, les repères du regard s'additionnaient à l'effet des attentes non spatiales (comme avec l'orientation exogène). Par conséquent, dans la nature de ses effets, le repère du regard agit comme un hybride entre l'orientation endogène et exogène. Public Significance Statement The present study investigated whether we deliberately or reflexively attend to where others are looking. Past research was conflicted on this issue because other people's faces shift our attention rapidly in a reflex-like manner, but faces can also prompt a deliberate shift of our attention, like choosing to follow an arrow indicating a route. By putting schematic faces into two experiments distinguishing deliberate and reflexive attention, we showed that both modes of attention can be activated by faces: We reflexively and deliberately attend where others are looking.

While there is ample evidence for the ability to selectively attend to where in space and when in time a relevant event might occur, it remains poorly understood whether spatial and temporal attention operate independently or interactively to optimize behavior. To elucidate this important issue, we provide a narrative review of the literature investigating the relationship between the two. The studies were organized based on the attentional manipulation employed (endogenous vs. exogenous) and the type of task (detection vs. discrimination). Although the reviewed findings depict a complex scenario, three aspects appear particularly important in promoting independent or interactive effects of spatial and temporal attention: task demands, attentional manipulation, and their combination. Overall, the present review provides key insights into the relationship between spatial and temporal attention and identifies some critical gaps that need to be addressed by future research.

The literature has long emphasized the neocortex’s role in volitional processes. In this work, we examined endogenous orienting in an evolutionarily older species, the archer fish, which lacks neocortex-like cells. We used Posner’s classic endogenous cuing task, in which a centrally presented, spatially informative cue is followed by a target. The fish responded to the target by shooting a stream of water at it. Interestingly, the fish demonstrated a human-like “volitional” facilitation effect: their reaction times to targets that appeared on the side indicated by the precue were faster than their reaction times to targets on the opposite side. The fish also exhibited inhibition of return, an aftermath of orienting that commonly emerges only in reflexive orienting tasks in human participants. We believe that this pattern demonstrates the acquisition of an arbitrary connection between spatial orienting and a nonspatial feature of a centrally presented stimulus in nonprimate species. In the literature on human attention, orienting in response to such contingencies has been strongly associated with volitional control. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of orienting, and for the study of volitional processes in all species, including humans.

Spatial and temporal expectations act synergistically to facilitate visual perception. In the current study, we sought to investigate the anticipatory oscillatory markers of combined spatial-temporal orienting and to test whether these decline with ageing. We examined anticipatory neural dynamics associated with joint spatial-temporal orienting of attention using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in both younger and older adults. Participants performed a cued covert spatial-temporal orienting task requiring the discrimination of a visual target. Cues indicated both where and when targets would appear. In both age groups, valid spatial-temporal cues significantly enhanced perceptual sensitivity and reduced reaction times. In the MEG data, the main effect of spatial orienting was the lateralised anticipatory modulation of posterior alpha and beta oscillations. In contrast to previous reports, this modulation was not attenuated in older adults; instead it was even more pronounced. The main effect of temporal orienting was a bilateral suppression of posterior alpha and beta oscillations. This effect was restricted to younger adults. Our results also revealed a striking interaction between anticipatory spatial and temporal orienting in the gamma-band (60–75 Hz). When considering both age groups separately, this effect was only clearly evident and only survived statistical evaluation in the older adults. Together, these observations provide several new insights into the neural dynamics supporting separate as well as combined effects of spatial and temporal orienting of attention, and suggest that different neural dynamics associated with attentional orienting appear differentially sensitive to ageing. [Display omitted] •Both younger and older adults benefit from cued spatial-temporal expectation.•Alpha and beta lateralisation linked to spatial expectation is preserved and even strengthened in older adults.•Temporal expectation modulates decreases in alpha oscillations in younger but not older adults.•Combined spatial-temporal expectation increases contralateral gamma oscillations in older adults.•Different anticipatory neural dynamics may be differentially sensitive to ageing.

The requirement to orient attention in space and time usually occurs simultaneously. Previous reports were indecisive regarding possible interactions between temporal and spatial orienting. The present study examined whether temporal and spatial orienting can operate simultaneously and independently in the framework of a detection task. Participants completed three consecutive target detection tasks: in the first two tasks a central cue provided predictive information regarding either the temporal delay of the target or its spatial location. In a third task the temporal and spatial cues from the first two tasks were combined into a single cue. Temporal and spatial information provided by the combined cue could be valid or invalid for each type of information separately. Results from the combined temporal-spatial task revealed that at a short cue-to-target interval temporal validity effects were significant at the attended and unattended spatial locations and were not modulated by spatial validity conditions. Spatial validity effects were also significant and comparable between the valid and invalid temporal conditions. Moreover, temporal and spatial validity effects in the combined task were equivalent to those attained in the separate tasks. At a long cue-to-target delay, spatial validity effects were significant and were not modulated by temporal validity but there were no temporal validity effects. Overall, the results suggest that participants were able to extract temporal and spatial information provided by a single cue simultaneously and independently. We conclude that temporal and spatial endogenous orienting function orthogonally in a task that does not require demanding perceptual discrimination.

In fencing, it remains unclear whether practice enhances visual‐spatial attention allocation. We explored whether this ability is improved in fencers and if it is related to attack speed and accuracy. Twelve novices (<1 year of experience) and 12 trained epee fencers (18 ± 10 years of experience) visited the laboratory twice (familiarization and testing session). They performed a covert orienting of visuospatial attention test (COVAT) on a computer and an epee test, involving 30 trials of 3 shuttles followed by fast attack phases where the fencers quickly hit a target (randomly proposed out of 8). We measured COVAT reaction time, number of successful target hits, and execution time to hit in the fencing test. We found shorter COVAT reaction time for trained fencers (332 ± 24 ms) versus novices (367 ± 32 ms; p < 0.001). The number of hits was greater for trained fencers (22 ± 3) versus novices (16 ± 3; p < 0.001). ANCOVA showed a difference in execution time at the test (823 ± 73 ms vs. 913 ± 141 ms, p = 0.035). A relationship was found between hits and execution time and between execution time and COVAT reaction time for the trained group (r = 0.62, p = 0.03 and r = 0.70, p = 0.01, respectively) but not in the novice group (r = 0.11, p = 0.72 and r = 0.45, p = 0.14, respectively). Mediation analysis showed that the relationship between execution time and number of hits (ADE: p = 0.008) was not mediated by COVAT reaction time (ACME: p = 0.17). These results evidence the importance of visual‐spatial attention allocation in fencing and evidence differences between novices and trained fencers with important implications for talent development in the early career stage. Highlights This is the first study investigating visual‐spatial attention allocation ability by comparing computer and fencing‐specific tests in trained versus novice epee fencers. Speed and accuracy at the fencing test and reaction time at the computer test were greater for trained epee fencers compared to novices. Only trained epee fencers showed a trade‐off between accuracy and speed of execution at the fencing test. This relationship was not mediated by covert‐orienting attention ability despite a correlation between speed of execution and reaction time at the computer test. These results underline the importance of attention allocation and technical abilities, which could improve independently with practice and play a role in epee fencing performance.

Attention can be conceptualized as comprising the functions of alerting, orienting, and executive control. Although the independence of these functions has been demonstrated, the neural mechanisms underlying their interactions remain unclear. Using the revised attention network test and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined cortical and subcortical activity related to these attentional functions and their interactions. Results showed that areas in the extended frontoparietal network (FPN), including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, frontal eye fields (FEF), areas near and along the intraparietal sulcus, anterior cingulate and anterior insular cortices, basal ganglia, and thalamus were activated across multiple attentional functions. Specifically, the alerting function was associated with activation in the locus coeruleus (LC) in addition to regions in the FPN. The orienting functions were associated with activation in the superior colliculus (SC) and the FEF. The executive control function was mainly associated with activation of the FPN and cerebellum. The interaction effect of alerting by executive control was also associated with activation of the FPN, while the interaction effect of orienting validity by executive control was mainly associated with the activation in the pulvinar. The current findings demonstrate that cortical and specific subcortical areas play a pivotal role in the implementation of attentional functions and underlie their dynamic interactions. •We examined cortical and subcortical activity related to the interactive attentional functions.•Results showed activation of the frontoparietal network and subcortical regions.•The attentional functions and their dynamic interactions are implemented by these structures.

Humans tend to orient their attentional resources towards the same location indicated by spatial signals coming from the others, such as pointing fingers, head turns, or eye-gaze. Here, two experiments investigated whether an attentional orienting response can be elicited even by foot cues. Participants were asked to localize a peripheral target while a task-irrelevant picture of a naked human foot, oriented leftward or rightward, was presented on the centre of the screen. The foot appeared in a neutral posture (i.e., standing upright) or an action-oriented posture (i.e., walking/running). In Experiment 1, neutral and action-oriented feet were presented in two distinct blocks, while in Experiment 2 they were presented intermixed. The results showed that the action-oriented foot, but not the neutral one, elicited an orienting response, though this only emerged in Experiment 2. This work suggests that attentional shifts can be induced by action-oriented foot cues, as long as these stimuli are made contextually salient.

Social behaviours characterize cooperative, mutualistic, aggressive or parental interactions that occur among conspecifics. Although the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) has been identified as a key substrate for social behaviours, the input and output pathways dedicated to specific aspects of conspecific interaction remain understudied. Here, in male mice, we investigated the activity and function of two distinct VTA inputs from superior colliculus (SC-VTA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC-VTA). We observed that SC-VTA neurons display social interaction anticipatory calcium activity, which correlates with orienting responses towards an unfamiliar conspecific. In contrast, mPFC-VTA neuron population activity increases after initiation of the social contact. While protracted phasic stimulation of SC-VTA pathway promotes head/body movements and decreases social interaction, inhibition of this pathway increases social interaction. Here, we found that SC afferents mainly target a subpopulation of dorsolateral striatum (DLS)-projecting VTA dopamine (DA) neurons (VTA DA -DLS). While, VTA DA -DLS pathway stimulation decreases social interaction, VTA DA -Nucleus Accumbens stimulation promotes it. Altogether, these data support a model by which at least two largely anatomically distinct VTA sub-circuits oppositely control distinct aspects of social behaviour. Solié, Contestabile et al. show that the superior colliculus to ventral tegmental area (VTA) pathway encodes orienting behavior toward conspecifics, and modulates VTA dopamine neurons projecting onto dorsolateral striatum perturbing social interaction.

On the basis of task-related imaging studies in normal human subjects, it has been suggested that two attention systems exist in the human brain: a bilateral dorsal attention system involved in top-down orienting of attention and a right-lateralized ventral attention system involved in reorienting attention in response to salient sensory stimuli. An important question is whether this functional organization emerges only in response to external attentional demands or is represented more fundamentally in the internal dynamics of brain activity. To address this question, we examine correlations in spontaneous fluctuations of the functional MRI blood oxygen level-dependent signal in the absence of task, stimuli, or explicit attentional demands. We identify a bilateral dorsal attention system and a right-lateralized ventral attention system solely on the basis of spontaneous activity. Further, we observe regions in the prefrontal cortex correlated with both systems, a potential mechanism for mediating the functional interaction between systems. These findings demonstrate that the neuroanatomical substrates of human attention persist in the absence of external events, reflected in the correlation structure of spontaneous activity.