Parieto-occipital ~10 Hz activity reflects anticipatory state of visual attention mechanisms

High-density EEG recordings revealed sensory specific modulation of anticipatory parieto-occipital ~10 Hz oscillatory activity when visually presented word cues instructed subjects in an intermodal selective attention paradigm. Cueing attention to the auditory features of imminent compound audio-visual stimuli resulted in significantly higher ~10 Hz amplitude in the period preceding onset of this stimulus than when attention was cued to the visual features. We propose that this parieto-occipital ~10 Hz activity reflects a disengaged visual attentional system in preparation for anticipated auditory input that is attentionally more relevant. Conversely, lower ~10 Hz activity during the attend-visual condition may reflect active engagement of parieto-occipital areas in the anticipatory period. These results support models implicating parieto-occipital areas in the directing and maintenance of visual attention.