Theta Oscillation Reveals the Temporal Involvement of Different Attentional Networks in Contingent Reorienting

In the visual world, rapidly reorienting to relevant objects outside the focus of attention is vital for survival. This ability from the interaction between goal-directed and stimulus-driven attentional control is termed contingent reorienting. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated activations of the ventral and dorsal attentional networks (DANs) which exhibit right hemisphere dominance, but the temporal dynamics of the attentional networks still remain unclear. The present study used event-related potential (ERP) to index the locus of spatial attention and Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) to acquire the time-frequency information during contingent reorienting. The ERP results showed contingent reorienting induced significant N2pc on both hemispheres. In contrast, our time-frequency analysis found further that, unlike the N2pc, theta oscillation during contingent reorienting differed between hemispheres and experimental sessions. The inter-trial coherence (ITC) of the theta oscillation demonstrated that the two sides of the attentional networks became phase-locked to contingent reorienting at different stages. The left attentional networks were associated with contingent reorienting in the first experimental session whereas the bilateral attentional networks play a more important role in this process in the subsequent session. This phase-locked information suggests a dynamic temporal evolution of the involvement of different attentional networks in contingent reorienting and a potential role of the left ventral network in the first session.