58, P = 0.037). For both conditions (divided and undivided), the amplitude was significantly

larger for attended than for unattended stimuli (Fig. 4). This pattern of evoked responses is in line with the predictions of the divided spotlight hypothesis. To examine the attentional modulations observed in more detail, we analysed the topographic distribution of alpha oscillatory amplitude for the different conditions. As alpha oscillatory amplitude is closely linked to attentional suppression, we would expect additional foci of alpha synchronisation in the divided as compared with the attend hemifield conditions if humans were able to divide the attentional spotlight. We found additional foci of alpha synchronisation in the divided attention condition (Fig. 5). The median number of alpha peaks in the attend hemifield condition BGB324 across participants was 1.25, whereas it was 2 for the divided attention conditions (P < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed rank test). The

median distance of the peak centers on the scalp for the ‘attend right’ condition was 12.3 cm, whereas it was 10.8 cm for the ‘attend left’ condition (Fig. 5C). Only one peak was detected for four participants in the ‘split right’ condition and for two participants in the ‘split left’ condition. The topographic distribution of suppressive oscillatory activity is therefore in line with the predictions of the divided spotlight theory of attention. The present results support previous research providing evidence for the divided spotlight hypothesis. Topographic analyses showed that oscillatory click here suppressive mechanisms flexibly adjust to task demands, and that, whenever more than one spatial location has to be ignored, there is a corresponding increase in the number of alpha oscillatory foci over the occipito-parietal scalp. In addition, we provide evidence that attentional modulation for each attended stimulus, whether in contiguous or non-contiguous parts of space, occurs during early sensory–perceptual processing in extrastriate visual areas (Di Russo et al., 2002; Frey et al., 2010). Sucrase Although the results obtained for attentional enhancement and suppression match with the predictions of the

divided attention model, it is not clear whether they also fit with a blinking spotlight of attention account. The idea that attention constantly samples the visual environment (VanRullen et al., 2007) is a very elegant solution to the problem of dividing attention. However, this account does not provide a clear prediction for suppression of unattended stimuli, because it assumes that the attentional system constantly samples all target stimuli. There is ample evidence that the brain employs an active mechanism of attentional suppression. Brain oscillations in the alpha range have been shown to be an index of suppression of unattended visual space (e.g. (Worden et al., 2000; Kelly et al., 2006; Thut et al., 2006; Romei et al., 2010; Gould et al., 2011; Belyusar et al.