The rhythm of attention: perceptual modulation via rhythmic entrainment is lowpass and attention mediated

Modulation patterns are known to carry critical predictive cues to signal detection in complex acoustic environments. The current study investigated the persistence of masker modulation effects on post-modulation detection of probe signals. Hickok et al. (2015) demonstrated that thresholds for a tone pulse in stationary noise follow a predictable periodic pattern when preceded by a 3-Hz amplitude modulated masker. They found entrainment of detection patterns to the modulation envelope lasting for approximately 2 cycles after termination of modulation. The current study extends these results to a wide range of modulation rates by mapping the temporal modulation transfer function for persistent modulatory effects. We found significant entrainment to modulation rates of 2 and 3 Hz, a weaker effect at 5 Hz, and no entrainment at higher rates (8 to 32 Hz). The effect seems critically dependent on attentional mechanisms, requiring temporal and level uncertainty of the probe signal. Our...调制模式（modulation patterns）可为复杂声学环境下的信号检测任务提供关键的预测性线索。本研究旨在探究掩蔽声调制效应对调制终止后探测信号检测的持续性影响。希科克等人（Hickok et al., 2015）的研究表明，当稳态噪声背景中嵌入3Hz调幅掩蔽声作为前置刺激时，声脉冲的检测阈值会呈现出可预测的周期性变化模式。他们发现，在调制终止后，检测模式会跟随调制包络同步约2个周期的时长。本研究通过绘制持续性调制效应的时间调制传递函数（temporal modulation transfer function），将上述研究结论拓展至更广泛的调制速率范围。本研究发现，2Hz与3Hz的调制速率下存在显著的同步效应，5Hz时效应较弱，而8至32Hz的更高调制速率下则未出现同步现象。该效应似乎严格依赖于注意机制，要求探测信号具备时间与强度上的不确定性。本研究的……