Reconfiguration of cortical brain network from searching to spotting for dynamic visual targets.

BACKGROUND

Detecting dynamic targets from complex visual scenes is an important problem in real world. However, the cognitive mechanism accounting for dynamic visual target detection remains unclear.

NEW METHOD: Herein, we aim to explore the cognitive process of dynamic visual target detection from searching to spotting and provide more concrete evidence for cognitive studies related to target detection. Cortical source responses with high spatiotemporal resolution were reconstructed from scalp EEG signals. Then, time-varying cortical networks were built using adaptive directed transfer function to explore the cognitive processes while detecting the dynamic visual target.

RESULTS

The experimental results demonstrated that the dynamic visual target detection enhanced the activation in both the visual and attention networks. Specially, the information flow from the middle occipital gyrus (MOG) mainly contributed to the position function, whereas the activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) reflected spatial attention maintenance.

CONCLUSION

The left "frontal-central-parietal" network played as a leading information source in dynamic target detection tasks. These findings provide new insights into cognitive processes of dynamic visual target detection.