Covert attentional tracking with invisible phase tagging
- 1Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University
Abstract
Attention forms a fundamental component of visual processing. The locus and spread of covert attention reveals how specific locations or features in the environment are preferentially processed, however, tracking this process in a time-resolved fashion is not easy. Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (RIFT) is a recent advance in localizing covert attention. This technique uses stimuli that flicker at unique frequencies to invisibly "tag" areas of the visual field. The frequency-specific response elicited offers a measure of visual processing (and covert attention) over time. However, the narrow frequency band compatible with RIFT restricts the number of distinct frequency tags that can be simultaneously used. This limitation can be addressed by using oscillatory phase as an additional tagging feature. Here, we conducted a RIFT-EEG experiment (n=24) with 8 unique tags based on both frequency and phase modulation. We show that modulations in visual processing can be measured at several tagged locations with identical frequency but different phases. This also allowed for the use of combined phase- and frequency- modulated RIFT to quantify the distribution of attention across the visual field. By integrating phase-modulation into invisible frequency tagging studies of attention, we bring the field a step closer towards fine-resolution attentional tracking continuously over time and space, allowing novel insights across various domains of visual cognition.
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BibTeX
@misc{arora2026covert,
title = {{Covert attentional tracking with invisible phase tagging}},
author = {K. Arora and K. Zinkovic and J. L. Kenemans and S. Van der Stigchel and S. Gayet and S. Chota},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.21.760697},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760697v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Covert attentional tracking with invisible phase tagging
AU - K. Arora
AU - K. Zinkovic
AU - J. L. Kenemans
AU - S. Van der Stigchel
AU - S. Gayet
AU - S. Chota
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.21.760697
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760697v1
AB - Attention forms a fundamental component of visual processing. The locus and spread of covert attention reveals how specific locations or features in the environment are preferentially processed, however, tracking this process in a time-resolved fashion is not easy. Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (RIFT) is a recent advance in localizing covert attention. This technique uses stimuli that flicker at unique frequencies to invisibly "tag" areas of the visual field. The frequency-specific response elicited offers a measure of visual processing (and covert attention) over time. However, the narrow frequency band compatible with RIFT restricts the number of distinct frequency tags that can be simultaneously used. This limitation can be addressed by using oscillatory phase as an additional tagging feature. Here, we conducted a RIFT-EEG experiment (n=24) with 8 unique tags based on both frequency and phase modulation. We show that modulations in visual processing can be measured at several tagged locations with identical frequency but different phases. This also allowed for the use of combined phase- and frequency- modulated RIFT to quantify the distribution of attention across the visual field. By integrating phase-modulation into invisible frequency tagging studies of attention, we bring the field a step closer towards fine-resolution attentional tracking continuously over time and space, allowing novel insights across various domains of visual cognition.
ER -