Dynamic cortical routing mediates temporal attention

Selecting information from dynamic streams requires mechanisms that prioritize a visual stimulus at a specific moment over preceding and subsequent stimuli at the same location. Whereas selective temporal attention has been found to enhance neural responses to stimuli, its impact on communication between brain regions remains unexplored. Here, we investigated whether prioritizing a stimulus at a specific time is achieved through selective routing of stimulus information across cortical networks using MEG. We developed a dynamic informational connectivity approach to quantify shared stimulus information between each region and the rest of the network. When stimuli compete in time, we found that temporal attention modulated the network at both early and late post-target time windows, routing information along two possible pathways—occipito-fronto-cingulate and occipito-temporal—via both transient bursts of network communication and theta-rhythmic replay. These results provide evidence that under dynamic sensory input, the timing of neural communication determines stimulus selection.