Reward makes the rhythmic sampling of spatial attention emerge earlier

A growing body of evidence demonstrates a rhythmic characteristic of spatial attention, with the corresponding behavioral performance fluctuating periodically. Here, we investigate whether and how the rhythmic characteristic of spatial attention is affected by reward—an important factor in attentional selection. We adopted the classic spatial cueing paradigm with a time-resolved stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) between the spatial cue and the target such that responses to the target in different phases could be examined. The color of the spatial cue was associated with either a high or low level of reward. Results showed that in the low-frequency band (<2 Hz) where classic exogenous spatial attention effects (i.e., facilitation and inhibition of return; IOR) appeared, reward enhanced the late IOR effect through facilitating behavioral responses to the target at the uncued location. Recurring lower alpha power (alpha inhibition) which fluctuated in a low-theta frequency (2–3 Hz) was observed at the cued location relative to the uncued location, irrespective of the reward level of the cue. Importantly, the recurring alpha inhibition emerged earlier (~120 ms) in the high-reward condition relative to the low-reward condition. We propose that the recurring alpha inhibition at the cued location implies a recurring attention sampling at the cued location and the expectation of a high reward makes the periodic attention sampling emerge earlier.