Distraction task rather than focal attention modulates gamma activity associated with auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs)

Inga Griskova-Bulanova*, Osvaldas Ruksenas, Kastytis Dapsys, Valentinas Maciulis, Sidse M.H. Arnfred

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    37 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Objective: To explore the modulation of auditory steady-state response (ASSR) by experimental tasks, differing in attentional focus and arousal level. Methods: 20. Hz and 40. Hz click trains were used to elicit ASSRs. Experiment 1 consisted of two runs of closed eyes and two runs of open eyes. Experiment 2 consisted of six tasks: counting 20. Hz and 40. Hz stimuli, sitting with closed and open eyes, reading an article, and performing a search task. Phase locking factor, evoked amplitude and total intensity were decomposed by non-negative multi-way factorization. Results: The total intensity of 40. Hz ASSR was enhanced during closed eyes condition in comparison to the open eyes condition. The evoked amplitude and phase locking factor of 40. Hz ASSR were attenuated during distraction, while there were no differences between attention to stimulation and no task. 20. Hz ASSR and 20. Hz ASSR-related 40. Hz activity were not modulated by the tasks. Conclusions: The phase-locked measures of 40. Hz ASSR are attenuated when attention to the stimulation is low, i.e. the subject is effortfully focused on the competitive "distraction" task performance. Lower arousal level increases the total intensity of 40. Hz ASSRs. Significance: Improvements of the practical use of ASSRs are suggested: a careful monitoring for arousal fluctuations during ASSR recordings should be performed; when ASSRs are applied to investigate the ability to generate high frequency cortical activity a "distraction" task is not favorable.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalClinical Neurophysiology
    Volume122
    Issue number8
    Pages (from-to)1541-1548
    Number of pages8
    ISSN1388-2457
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2011

    Keywords

    • Arousal
    • Attention
    • Auditory
    • Multi-way matrix factorization
    • Steady-state response

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