Global and local oscillatory entrainment of visual behavior across retinotopic space

Ongoing brain oscillations (7–10 Hz) modulate visual perception; in particular, their precise phase can predict target perception. Here, we employ this phase-dependence of perception in a psychophysical experiment to track spatial properties of entrained oscillations of visual perception across the visual field. Is this entrainment local, or a more global phenomenon? If the latter, does oscillatory phase synchronize over space, or vary with increasing distance from the oscillatory source? We presented a disc stimulus in the upper left quadrant, oscillating in luminance at different frequencies (individual alpha frequency (IAF), 5 Hz and 15 Hz) to entrain an oscillation with specific frequency and spatial origin. Observers fixated centrally, while flash stimuli at perceptual threshold appeared at different positions and times with respect to the oscillating stimulus. IAF and 5 Hz luminance oscillations modulated detection performance at all tested positions, whereas at 15 Hz, the effect was weaker and less consistent. Furthermore, for IAF and 5 Hz entrainment, preferred phases for target detection differed significantly between spatial locations, suggesting “local” entrainment of detection performance next to the oscillatory source, whereas more distant target locations shared a “global” effect with a significantly different phase. This unexpected global component of entrainment is tentatively attributed to widespread connectivity from thalamic nuclei such as the pulvinar.