Travis Powell¹, Megan Wong¹, Jake Eliot¹, Ding Mingzhou², George R. Mangun¹; ¹University of California, Davis, ²Universtity of Florida

Behavioral fluctuations oscillating in the theta-band (3—8 Hz) have been observed in visuospatial attention tasks when sampled over a range of cue-target intervals. This periodic nature of performance during the deployment of attention provides evidence that attentional capture is a discrete process. Previous work has found that saccadic activity and visual sensitivity are in antiphase to each other, governed by a theta rhythm common across a control network. This mechanism thereby resolves an inherent conflict between sensory and motor processes, facilitating shifts of attention from one area of space to another. We extended this model of attentional rhythmicity beyond the visuospatial domain with a modified Posner paradigm, cueing participants to two temporally distinct sampling windows of cue-target intervals while acquiring scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracker data. Mean reaction time (RT) was observed fluctuating in the 3—8 Hz range. Attention was found to modify event related potentials (ERPs) time-locked to the target stimulus. We also examined post-cue spectral activity and eye movements. Replication of earlier rhythmic behavioral findings, extended to temporal attention — which recruits a different control network, and different hemispheric bias — suggests a more general oscillatory mechanism than previously considered.