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Human planning is efficient – it frugally deploys limited cognitive resources to accomplish difficult tasks – and flexible – adapting to novel problems and environments. Computational approaches suggest that people construct simplified mental representations of their environment, balancing the complexity of a task representation with its utility. These models imply a nested optimisation in which planning shapes perception and perception shapes planning – but the perceptual and attentional mechanisms governing how this interaction unfolds remain unknown. Here, we harness virtual maze navigation to characterise how spatial attention controls which aspects of a task representation enter subjective awareness and are available for planning. We find that spatial proximity governs which aspects of a maze are available for planning and that when task-relevant information follows natural (lateralised) contours of attention, people can more easily construct simplified and useful maze representations. This influence of attention varies considerably across individuals, explaining differences in people’s task representations and behaviour. Inspired by the ‘spotlight of attention ’ analogy, we incorporate the effects of visuospatial attention into existing computational accounts of value-guided construal. Together, our work bridges computational perspectives on perception and decision-making to better understand how individuals represent their environments in aid of planning.

Neuroimaging studies conducted in the last three decades have distinguished two frontoparietal networks responsible for the control of visuospatial attention. The present review summarizes recent findings on the neurophysiological mechanisms implemented in both networks and describes the evolution from a model centered on the distinction between top-down and bottom-up attention to a model that emphasizes the dynamic interplay between the two networks based on attentional demands. The role of the dorsal attention network (DAN) in attentional orienting, by boosting behavioral performance, has been investigated with multiple experimental approaches. This research effort allowed us to trace a distinction between DAN regions involved in shifting vs. maintenance of attention, gather evidence for the modulatory influence exerted by the DAN over sensory cortices, and identify the electrophysiological correlates of the orienting function. Simultaneously, other studies have contributed to reframing our understanding of the functions of the ventral attention network (VAN) and its relevance for behavior. The VAN is not simply involved in bottom-up attentional capture but interacts with the DAN during reorienting to behaviorally relevant targets, exhibiting a general resetting function. Further studies have confirmed the selective rightward asymmetry of the VAN, proposed a functional dissociation along the anteroposterior axis, and suggested hypotheses about its emergence during the evolution of the primate brain. Finally, novel models of network interactions explain the expression of complex attentional functions and the emergence and restorations of symptoms characterizing unilateral spatial neglect. These latter studies emphasize the importance of considering patterns of network interactions for understanding the consequences of brain lesions.

Visuospatial attention theories often propose hemispheric asymmetries underlying the control of attention. In general support of these theories, previous EEG/MEG studies have shown that spatial attention is associated with hemispheric modulation of posterior alpha power (gating by inhibition). However, since measures of alpha power are typically expressed as lateralization scores, or collapsed across left and right attention shifts, the individual hemispheric contribution to the attentional control mechanism remains unclear. This is, however, the most crucial and decisive aspect in which the currently competing attention theories continue to disagree. To resolve this long-standing conflict, we derived predictions regarding alpha power modulations from Heilman’s hemispatial theory and Kinsbourne’s interhemispheric competition theory and tested them empirically in an EEG experiment. We used an attention paradigm capable of isolating alpha power modulation in two attentional states, namely attentional bias in a neutral cue condition and spatial orienting following directional cues. Differential alpha modulations were found for both hemispheres across conditions. When anticipating peripheral visual targets without preceding directional cues (neutral condition), posterior alpha power in the left hemisphere was generally lower and more strongly modulated than in the right hemisphere, in line with the interhemispheric competition theory. Intriguingly, however, while alpha power in the right hemisphere was modulated by both, cue-directed leftward and rightward attention shifts, the left hemisphere only showed modulations by rightward shifts of spatial attention, in line with the hemispatial theory. This suggests that the two theories may not be mutually exclusive, but rather apply to different attentional states. •We measured EEG alpha oscillations during a Posner attention task.•Directional attention allocation was compared to non-directional attention.•Alpha (de)synchronization across conditions revealed hemispheric asymmetries.•Results inform a long-standing debate between competing attention theories.•Hemispatial and interhemispheric competition models: different attentional states?

Behavioural studies have suggested that number manipulation involves shifting attention along a left-to-right oriented continuum. However, these studies provide little evidence about the time course of attention shifts during number processing. We used an eye-tracker with high spatio-temporal resolution to measure eye movements during the mental solving of addition (e.g., 43 + 4) and subtraction problems (e.g., 53 − 6), as a proxy for the rightward and leftward attention shifts that accompany these operations. A first difference in eye position was observed as soon as the operator was heard: the hearing of “plus” shifted the eye rightward compared to “minus”. A second difference was observed later between problem offset and response onset: addition shifted the eye rightward and upward compared to subtraction, suggesting that the space used to represent the problem is bidimensional. Further analyses confirmed the fast deployment of spatial attention and evidenced its relationship with the carrying and borrowing procedures triggered by the problem presentation. The predictive role of horizontal eye movements, in particular, is essential to understand how attention contributes to narrow down the range of plausible answers. We propose that attention illuminates significant portions of the numerical continuum anticipatively to guide the search of the answer and facilitate the implementation of solving procedures in verbal working memory.

The adolescent brain undergoes tremendous structural and functional changes throughout puberty. Previous research has demonstrated that pubertal hormones can modulate sexually dimorphic changes in cortical development, as well as age‐related maturation of the neural activity underlying cognitive processes. However, the precise impact of pubertal hormones on these functional changes in the developing human brain remains poorly understood. In the current study, we quantified the neural oscillatory activity serving visuospatial processing using magnetoencephalography, and utilized measures of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as an index of development during the transition from childhood to adolescence (i.e., puberty). Within a sample of typically developing youth (ages 9–15), a novel association between pubertal DHEA and theta oscillatory activity indicated that less mature children exhibited stronger neural responses in higher‐order prefrontal cortices during the visuospatial task. Theta coherence between bilateral prefrontal regions also increased with increasing DHEA, such that network‐level theta activity became more distributed with more maturity. Additionally, significant DHEA‐by‐sex interactions in the gamma range were centered on cortical regions relevant for attention processing. These findings suggest that pubertal DHEA may modulate the development of neural oscillatory activity serving visuospatial processing and attention functions during the pubertal period.

Refractive errors represent an important cause of visual impairment, impacting the quality of vision in billions of people across the globe. Degraded visual input may cause individuals with refractive errors to deploy greater attentional resources during visual tasks. We tested the hypothesis that myopia alters the pattern of visual attention. Twenty participants (10 near-emmetropes) performed an acuity discrimination task at random visual field locations (eccentricity range: 1-10°; spacing: 1°; polar coordinates of 0°, 90°, 180°or 270°) under conditions of neutral attention (no information on the stimulus position) and focused attention (target presentation in a single meridian), while fully optically corrected. The spatial distribution of attention-related modulation was estimated by the ratio of performance between the focused and neutral conditions across spatial eccentricities using acuity resolution (primary outcome) and reaction times (RT), as measures of attention. Use of linear mixed models revealed that the enhancing effect of attention follows a cubic spatial profile for acuity and RT, indicating a finite attentional window in myopes and emmetropes with a peak eccentricity at around 4°. Significant dependence of attention modulation on polar coordinate and refractive status was also identified (for both acuity and RT), with larger attention enhancement at the South position, compared to the North location, and lower attention efficiency in myopes, as compared to emmetropes across the visual field. Our modeling of attention-related modulation in acuity further indicated that myopes experience narrower attentional windows, suggesting a reallocation of cognitive resources. The study is the first, to our knowledge, to provide a detailed spatial profile of attention-related modulation linked to mild to regular myopia, highlighting a differential shape of the focus of attention with refractive status, which demonstrates a redistribution of attention with myopia. This revealed a link between myopia and visual attention, which requires further investigation.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can be used to study causal contributions of oscillatory brain mechanisms to cognition and behavior. For instance, individual alpha frequency (IAF) tACS was reported to enhance alpha power and impact visuospatial attention performance. Unfortunately, such results have been inconsistent and difficult to replicate. In tACS, stimulation generally involves one frequency, sometimes individually calibrated to a peak value observed in an M/EEG power spectrum. Yet, the ‘peak’ actually observed in such power spectra often contains a broader range of frequencies, raising the question whether a biologically calibrated tACS protocol containing this fuller range of alpha-band frequencies might be more effective. Here, we introduce ‘Broadband-alpha-tACS’, a complex individually calibrated electrical stimulation protocol. We band-pass filtered left posterior resting-state EEG data around the IAF (± 2 Hz), and converted that time series into an electrical waveform for tACS stimulation of that same left posterior parietal cortex location. In other words, we stimulated a brain region with a ‘replay’ of its own alpha-band frequency content, based on spontaneous activity. Within-subjects (N = 24), we compared to a sham tACS session the effects of broadband-alpha tACS, power-matched spectral inverse (‘alpha-removed’) control tACS, and individual alpha frequency (IAF) tACS, on EEG alpha power and performance in an endogenous attention task previously reported to be affected by alpha tACS. Broadband-alpha-tACS significantly modulated attention task performance (i.e., reduced the rightward visuospatial attention bias in trials without distractors, and reduced attention benefits). Alpha-removed tACS also reduced the rightward visuospatial attention bias. IAF-tACS did not significantly modulate attention task performance compared to sham tACS, but also did not statistically significantly differ from broadband-alpha-tACS. This new broadband-alpha-tACS approach seems promising, but should be further explored and validated in future studies.

Visuospatial attention (VSA) is a cognitive function that enables athletes, particularly those engaged in open-skill sports, to allocate attentional resources efficiently to the appropriate target and in the appropriate direction. Studies have indicated that expert players exhibit superior cognitive performance to that of novices. However, no study has investigated differences in VSA performance among elite, expert, and intermediate badminton players or the potential neurophysiological mechanisms underlying such differences. Accordingly, the present study explored neuropsychological and neurophysiological parameters during VSA tasks among badminton players of varying competitive levels. The study included 54 participants and divided them into three groups according to their competition records: elite (n = 18), expert (n = 18), and intermediate (n = 18). Their neuropsychological performance and brain event-related potentials (ERPs) during the Posner cueing paradigm were collected. Although the three groups did not differ in their accuracy rates, ERP N2 amplitudes, or N2 or P3 latencies, the elite and expert groups exhibited notably faster reaction times and more pronounced P3 amplitudes than did the intermediate group during the cognitive task. However, we did not observe these between-group differences when we controlled for the covariate training years. Additionally, the elite and expert groups exhibited comparable neurocognitive performance. These findings indicate that badminton players’ competitive levels influence their VSA. However, the beneficial effects on neuropsychological and neurophysiological performance could stabilize after a certain level of badminton competence is reached. Year of training could also be a major factor influencing badminton players’ neurocognitive performance in VSA tasks.

Robotic assistive devices, such as exoskeletons, are increasingly employed in walking rehabilitation. Therefore, the measurement of both movement kinematics and cognitive workload is important to understand this human-robot interaction in real-world contexts. To address this need this study presents the validation of a framework integrating inertial motion capture (Xsens) and eye-tracking sensor (Pupil Neon) within a Mixed Reality (Meta Quest 3) architecture. We developed an overground dual-task paradigm in which holographic numbers appear in the user's peripheral vision. This setup actively stimulates visuospatial attention while quantifying kinematic and cognitive output. To validate the framework, the protocol has been tested on 30 healthy subjects across repeated exoskeleton training sessions. Statistical analyses revealed that the Coefficient of Multiple Correlation (CMC) and Spectral Arc Length (SPARC), calculated on the shank angular velocity, together with the Step Length Variability, exhibited significant time effects ( < 0.01), mapping the transition toward automated gait. Concurrently, pupillometric data demonstrated a measurable reduction in neurocognitive demand; specifically, the Task-Evoked Pupillary Response (TEPR) decreased significantly across progressive training sessions ( < 0.05). With this work, we validated a measurement protocol that aims to provide a novel methodology for objectively evaluating motor and cognitive adaptation in wearable assistive devices.

Oscillatory synchronization in the gamma frequency range has been proposed as a neuronal mechanism to prioritize processing of relevant stimuli over competing ones. Recent studies in animals found that selective spatial attention enhanced gamma-band synchronization in high-order visual areas (V4) and increased the gamma peak frequency in V1. The existence of such mechanisms in the human visual system is yet to be fully demonstrated. In this study, we used MEG, in combination with an optimised stimulus design, to record visual gamma oscillations from human early visual cortex, while participants performed a visuospatial attention cueing task. First, we reconstructed virtual sensors in V1/V2, where gamma oscillations were strongly induced by visual stimulation alone. Second, following the results of a statistical comparison between conditions of attention, we reconstructed cortical activity also in inferior occipital-temporal regions (V4). The results indicated that gamma amplitude was modulated by spatial attention across the cortical hierarchy, both in the early visual cortex and in higher-order regions of the ventral visual pathway. In contrast, we found no evidence for an increase in the gamma peak frequency in V1/V2 with attention. The gamma response tended to peak earlier in V1/V2 than in V4 by approximately 70 ms, consistent with a feed-forward role of gamma-band activity in propagating sensory representations across the visual cortical hierarchy. Together, these findings suggest that differences in experimental design or methodology can account for the inconsistencies in previous animal and human studies. Furthermore, our results are in line with the hypothesis of enhanced gamma-band synchronization as an attentional mechanism in the human visual cortex. •A visuospatial attention task is used to probe human gamma oscillations with MEG.•Attention increases gamma amplitude in early visual cortex (V1/V2).•Attention increases gamma amplitude in high-level areas of the ventral stream (V4).•No evidence of increased gamma peak frequency in V1 with attention.•Feed-forward gamma-band synchronization as an attentional mechanism in humans.