# Frequency-tagged fMRI reveals dual mechanisms of attentional enhancement and suppression

Source: [nature.com](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-79329-4) · 2026-11-11 · Life
Page: https://themorning.science/story/frequency-tagged-fmri-reveals-dual-mechanisms-of-attentional-enhancement-and-sup-42dcb486be52d8c3
Kind: research · Impact: low

## In brief

- Rafeh et al. used frequency-tagged fMRI to study selective attention.
- The study reports that attention relies on two independent neural mechanisms: target enhancement and surround suppression.
- The paper was published online in Nature Communications on 11 November 2026.

## Why it matters

It suggests that enhancing an attended target and suppressing its surroundings are separate processes, which can inform how neuroscientists model and measure attention.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-11: Published online in Nature Communications (doi:10.1038/s41467-026-79329-4)

## Coverage

- [Frequency-tagged fMRI reveals dual mechanisms of attentional enhancement and suppression](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-79329-4) — nature.com, 2026-11-11

Tags: attention, fmri, neuroscience, visual perception, frequency tagging

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science