Dynamic functional connectivity in auditory attention task

Abstract

Navigating conversations in complex auditory environments requires dynamic control of attention—switching and maintaining attention across multiple auditory objects. Several brain regions, some traditionally considered auditory and others non-auditory, have been highlighted as part of the cortical networks that contribute to the ability to switch and maintain attention between multiple talkers. M/EEG data were collected during a dual-stream auditory attention task in which the listener was asked to attend to one of two speech streams that differed in location or pitch. In each trial, the listener was cued to either maintain their attention on one talker, or switch their attention to the second talker during a silent interval. In this study, we apply a state-space model to the brain imaging data to elucidate the differences in the dynamic cortical networks responsible for maintaining and switching attention across different auditory cues.