Rhythm-based Brain Computation Unit, RIKEN BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center, Saitama, Japan.
Neuroimage. 2012 Jan 2;59(1):808-14. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.07.042. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
Human daily behaviors are often affected by subjective preferences. Studies have shown that physical responses are affected by unconscious preferences before conscious decision making. Accordingly, attention-related neural activities could be influenced by unconscious preferences. However, few neurological data exist on the relationship between visual attention and subjective preference. To address this issue, we focused on lateralization during visual attention and investigated the effects of subjective color preferences on visual attention-related brain activities. We recorded electroencephalograph (EEG) data during a preference judgment task that required 19 participants to choose their preferred color from 2 colors simultaneously presented to the right and left hemifields. In addition, to identify oscillatory activity during visual attention, we conducted a control experiment in which the participants focused on either the right or the left color without stating their preference. The EEG results showed enhanced theta (4-6 Hz) and decreased alpha (10-12 Hz) activities in the right and left occipital electrodes when the participants focused on the color in the opposite hemifield. Occipital theta synchronizations also increased contralaterally to the hemifield to which the preferred color was presented, whereas the alpha desynchronizations showed no lateralization. The contralateral occipital theta activity lasted longer than the ipsilateral occipital theta activity. Interestingly, theta lateralization was observed even when the preferred color was presented to the unattended side in the control experiment, revealing the strength of the preference-related theta-modulation effect irrespective of visual attention. These results indicate that subjective preferences modulate visual attention-related brain activities.
人类的日常行为往往受到主观偏好的影响。研究表明，在有意识地做出决策之前，身体的反应会受到无意识偏好的影响。因此，与注意力相关的神经活动可能会受到无意识偏好的影响。然而，关于视觉注意力和主观偏好之间的关系，神经科学数据还很少。为了解决这个问题，我们专注于视觉注意力的偏侧化，并研究了主观颜色偏好对与视觉注意力相关的大脑活动的影响。我们在一个偏好判断任务中记录了脑电图（EEG）数据，该任务要求 19 名参与者从同时呈现给右视野和左视野的两种颜色中选择他们喜欢的颜色。此外，为了识别视觉注意力期间的振荡活动，我们进行了一项对照实验，其中参与者专注于右或左颜色，而不表明他们的偏好。EEG 结果表明，当参与者专注于对侧视野中的颜色时，右和左枕叶电极的θ（4-6 Hz）波和α（10-12 Hz）波活动增强。枕叶θ同步也增加了与呈现偏好颜色的视野相对的一侧，而α去同步化则没有偏侧化。对侧枕叶θ活动持续时间长于同侧枕叶θ活动。有趣的是，即使在对照实验中，将偏好颜色呈现给未关注的一侧，也观察到了θ偏侧化，这表明与偏好相关的θ调制效应的强度不受视觉注意力的影响。这些结果表明，主观偏好调节与视觉注意力相关的大脑活动。
