Spatiotemporal dynamics of selective attention and visual conflict monitoring using a Stroop task

ABSTRACT

Selective attention and conflict monitoring are daily human phenomena, yet the spatial and temporal neurological underpinnings of these processes are not fully understood. Current literature suggests these executive functions occur via diverse and highly interconnected neural networks, including top-down, bottom-up, and conflict-control loops. To investigate the spatiotemporal activity of these processes, we collected neuromagnetic data using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 28 healthy adults (age 19–36), while they performed a computerized Stroop task based on color naming. We focused on low-frequency oscillations in the context of top-down control and hypothesized that conflict monitoring-related activity would first be observed in the left anterior cingulate cortex, followed by the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and subsequently in the parietal and temporal lobes. Significant activity between 600-1000 ms post-stimulus onset was found for incongruent vs. congruent/neutral contrasts. Interestingly, spatiotemporal analysis did not provide evidence for a top-down pattern of activation, instead revealing a simultaneous pattern of activation in the frontal and temporal lobes. Most notable is the involvement of the left posterior inferior temporal cortex (pITC) and the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ), which have not conventionally been considered active players in attentional control. These results may be largely driven by alpha and beta oscillations from our sample population. Our findings challenge early theoretical models of top-down processing in the context of cognitive control from an attention perspective and also suggest a need to investigate attentional centers in the temporal lobe. Furthermore, the study highlights the valuable temporal data provided by MEG, which has been missing from previous studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Stroop task
• cognitive interference
• top-down processing
• magnetoencephalography

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Brianne Sutton, PhD, for her guidance regarding the statistical analyses. We also want to thank Alexander Seames, MA, for his help navigating the database and miscellaneous MEG-related technical questions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions statement

Rawan Jarrar: data analysis, manuscript writing; Colleen Monahan: data analysis, manuscript writing; Johanna Shattuck: data collection; Peter Teale: guidance in data analysis; Eugene Kronberg: guidance in data analysis; Benzi Kluger: project oversight; Isabelle Buard: project oversight, manuscript writing.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17588928.2023.2259554

Additional information

Funding

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) Grant Award #1K01AT009894-01A1 (PI: Buard).This material is based upon work supported by, or in part by, the U. S. Army Research Laboratory and the U. S. Army Research Office under contract/grant number W911NF1010192 (PI: Kluger).