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Abstract:
In line with the “feature similarity gain” model we observed a global
enhancement of steady state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) amplitudes for
flickering random dot kinematograms (RDKs) that shared the to‐be‐attended color
regardless of the to‐be‐attended location. In a second study we instructed
subjects to shift attention from one color to another in two superimposed
centrally presented RDKs. We found an enhancement of the attended and a
delayed suppression of the unattended color, suggesting two temporarily well
separated neural mechanisms. The critical question: Is our observed time course
restricted to the attended location or globally as well? We presented two
additional and task irrelevant RDKs that flanked the, as in our previous study,
centrally presented RDKs. The peripheral RDKs were of one color of the central
RDKs, respectively, at which subjects performed a target discrimination task. As in
our previous study we found a global enhancement of the signal elicited by the
attended color, irrespective of the focus of spatial attention. The delayed
suppression of the unattended color was limited to the centrally presented,
superimposed RDKs and was not observed at the peripheral, spatially separated
stimuli. The crucial deviation from a generalized biphasic mechanism at spatially
separated RDKs either suggests an important role of the focus of spatial attention
or the need for highly overlapping stimuli directly competing for processing
resources.
