Table 1.
TMS studies investigating the role of attention during difficult, visual search tasks
| Stimulation parameters | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | Behavioral manipulation | Test region | Control | Type of stimulation | Stimulation intensity | n | Conclusions |
| Ashbridge (1997) | Feature: color Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-PC | No-TMS | Single-pulse at 11 possible delays (from 0 to 200 ms) | 80% MSI | 5 | R-PC involved in conjunction but not feature tasks |
| Walsh et al. (1998) | Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-PC | No-TMS | Single-pulse at 11 possible delays (from 0 to 200 ms) | 80% MSI | 3 | R-PC involved in novel but not learned conjunction tasks |
| Juan and Walsh (2003) | Feature: color Conjunction: color-orientation |
V1/V2 | No-TMS | 10 Hz for 500 ms and Double-pulse (40 or 100 ms interval) at 6 possible delays |
65% MSI | 8, 6, & 6 | V1 involved at late delays (feedback) during conjunction but not feature tasks |
| Muggleton et al. (2003) | Feature: color Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-FEF L-FEF |
Vertex V5 |
10 Hz for 500 ms | 65% MSI | 5 | FEF is involved in visual selection, in the absence of saccade |
| Ellison et al. (2004) | Feature: orientation Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-PPC R-STG |
SHAM on R-PPC or R-STG | R-PPC: 10 Hz for 500 ms R-STG: 4 Hz for 500 ms |
65% MSI | 5 | R-PPC involved in conjunction and R-STG in feature |
| O’Shea et al. (2004) | Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-FEF | Vertex V5 |
Double-pulse (40 ms interval) at 5 possible delays (from 0 to 120 ms), 40 ms before mask onset | FEF & Vertex: 65% MSI V5: 110% phosphene threshold |
12 | FEF is involved in visual discrimination, in the absence of saccade |
| Fuggetta et al. (2006) | Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-PPC | Vertex | Single-pulse 100 ms after stimulus onset | 85% MSI on average | 7 | R-PPC involved in conjunction task |
| Ellison et al. (2007) | Conjunction: color-orientation and motion-orientation |
R-PPC R-V5 |
SHAM on R-PPC or R-V5 |
10 Hz for 500 ms | 65% MSI | 7 | R-PPC involved in color-orientation R-V5 in motion-orientation |
| Kalla et al. (2008) | Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-FEF R-PPC |
No-TMS | Double-pulse (40 ms interval) at 5 possible delays (from 0 to 200 ms) | 60% MSI | 9 | R-FEF involved earlier than R-PPC in conjunction tasks |
| Muggleton et al. (2008) | Feature: color Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-AG L-AG |
Vertex No-TMS |
10 Hz for 500 ms | 65% MSI | 8 | R-AG but not L-AG involved in conjunction but not feature tasks |
| Schindler et al. (2008) | Feature: orientation Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-PPC R-STG |
SHAM on R-PPC or R-STG | R-PPC: 10 Hz for 500 ms R-STG: 4 Hz for 500 ms |
65% MSI | 5 | R-STG processes the left part of the search array presented contralateral R-PPC involved for left visual field when full-fields array |
| Kalla et al. (2009) | Feature: color Conjunction: color-orientation |
DLPFC | Vertex V5 |
TBS: 50 Hz bursts at 5 Hz | 40% MSI | 12 | DLPCF involved in conjunction but not feature tasks |
| Dugué et al. (2011) | Conjunction: L vs T and L vs + |
V1/V2 | Stimulus at non-retinotopic location | Double-pulse (25 ms interval) at 8 possible delays (from 100 to 450 ms) | 55% MSI | 11 | V1 involved at late delays (feedback) during conjunction but not feature tasks |
| Lane et al. (2011) | Feature: shape Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-PPC | SHAM on R-PPC | 10 Hz for 500 ms | 65% MSI | 12 | R-PPC involved in conjunction and feature tasks when participants have to point to the target, but only conjunction when button press response |
| Muggleton et al. (2011) | Conjunction: color-orientation |
R-FEF L-PPC |
No-TMS | 10 Hz for 500 ms | 60% MSI | 8 | L-PPC involved when manual motor response required |
| Dugué et al. (2015a) | Conjunction: L vs T and L vs + |
V1/V2 | Stimulus at non-retinotopic location | Double-pulse: one at 312.5 ms and one 13 possible delays (from 112.5 to 437.5 ms) | 55% MSI | 10 | V1 involved periodically during conjunction but not feature tasks (∼6 Hz) |
| Yan et al. (2016) | Feature: color Conjunction: orientation of triangles |
R-DLPFC R-PPC |
Vertex on another group of participants | Double-pulse (100 ms interval) 200 ms before search array onset | 51% MSI on average | 16 | DLPFC is involved in the conjunction search, while the PPC is involved in the feature search |
| Present study | Conjunction: L vs T |
R-FEF | Vertex | Double-pulse (25 ms interval) at 9 possible delays (from 50 to 450 ms) | 52% MSI on average | 21 | FEF involved periodically during a conjunction task (∼6 Hz) |
For each study we report the behavioral manipulation, the stimulation parameters: tested region (R, Right; L, Left; V5, MT area; PC, parietal cortex; PPC, posterior parietal cortex; AG, angular gyrus, part of the PPC; STG, superior temporal gyrus; DLPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right hemisphere), control condition, type of stimulation (TBS, theta burst stimulation; note: otherwise mentioned, the reference is the onset of the visual stimuli) and the intensity of the stimulation (MSI, maximum output stimulation intensity of the TMS machine), the amount of participants for which data were analyzed (n), and finally, the authors’ conclusions.