Figure 7. A schematic model of how oscillatory activity may coordinate the allocation of spatial visual attention.

In the “sampling” state, elevated beta-band activity in the frontal-eye-field (FEF) corresponds with suppression of attentional shifts and/or saccadic eye-movements. Concurrently, increased gamma-band activity in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) reflects enhanced sensory processing and improved behavioural detection at attended locations The pulvinar coordinates the neocortical activity. In contrast, the “shifting” state is marked by a rise in alpha-band activity in LIP, which corresponds with attenuated visual processing during which attention (covert or overt) may relocate to another spatial locus. In this case the LIP coordinates the activity in the pulvinar. The transition between these sampling and shifting states has been proposed to be paced by a theta-band rhythm (∼3-8 Hz), acting as a “clock” that alternately gates sensory-sampling versus attentional-relocation phases. Reproduced from (238); used with permission.