Perceptual load interacts with involuntary attention at early processing stages: Event-related potential studies

Abstract

Perceptual load is known to influence the locus of attentional selection in the brain but through an unknown underlying mechanism. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how perceptual load interacts with cue-driven involuntary attention. Perceptual load was manipulated in a line orientation discrimination task in which target location was cued involuntarily by means of peripheral cues. Attentional modulation was observed for P1m (the posterior midline P1 component with peak latency between 108 and 140 ms) with invalid trials eliciting larger P1m than valid trials. This attentional effect on P1m increased as a function of perceptual load, suggesting an early temporal locus for the interaction of perceptual load and involuntary attention. Attentional modulation for the C1 component (peak latency at approximately 80 ms) was also observed, but only for high load stimuli that were presented intermixed with low load stimuli. Results suggest that (a) perceptual load affects attentional selection at early processing stages; (b) perceptual load interacts with involuntary attention earlier and with different brain mechanisms relative to voluntary attention; and (c) attentional modulation in the C1 time range is possible under optimal experimental conditions.

Voluntary attention reliably influences visual processing at the level of the C1 component: A commentary on Fu, Fedota, Greenwood, and Parasuram (2010)

“…While it has long been assumed that the earliest stages of processing in V1 are resistant to top-down influences exerted by attentional control mechanisms (Hillyard et al, 1998;Martinez et al, 1999), our results concur with other recent findings (Fu et al, 2010a;Fu et al, 2009;Karns and Knight, 2009;Kelly et al, 2008;Khoe et al, 2005;Poghosyan and Ioannides, 2008) to suggest otherwise.…”

State-dependent attention modulation of human primary visual cortex: A high density ERP study

“…Previous studies have pointed to a dorsal fronto-parietal network involved in the control of endogenous attention and exerting top-down influences in lower tier visual cortex, including V1 (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002;Fu et al, 2009;Lavie, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2005). Due to the similarities of the effects of attentional load and affective state on the C1 amplitude, we could assume that a similar mechanism is operating when either perceptual load is increased, or negative affect is transiently elicited.…”

“…Moreover, in order to rule out that the observed C1 modulations by load and affect may be due to a partially overlapping contribution of the onset phase and rise of the occipital midline P1 (P1m, see Fu et al, 2009;see also Handy et al, 2001), we also analyzed the peak amplitude of this extrastriate visual component as a function of Load and Affect. The P1m had a more occipital scalp distribution than the C1…”

“…Results of this auxiliary analysis, run on the overlap-free C1 amplitudes, corroborate this conclusion (see Figure 5, (with larger amplitudes for LL than HL) when no affective state had been induced yet; (ii) once (either positive or negative) affective state had been induced, this normal load-dependent attentional filtering effect was abolished 5 . Handy et al, 2001;Fu et al, 2009Fu et al, , 2010, peaking between 110 and 150 ms following stimulus onset. Because of the close temporal proximity between the peak of the C1 and the rise of the extrastriate P1m, we performed a thorough analysis of the P1m component to ensure that changes in the C1 as a function of load and affect (see here above)…”

Twenty years of load theory—Where are we now, and where should we go next?

“…This has been illustrated using fMRI (Fu, Fedota, Greenwood, & Parasuraman, 2010;O'Connor, Fukui, Pinsk, & Kastner, 2002;Sy & Giesbrecht, 2010;Wei et al, 2013;Xu, Monterosso, Kober, Baldois, & Potenza, 2011;Yi, Woodman, Widders, Marois, & Chun, 2004), electroencephalography (EEG; Fu, Huang, Fedota, Greenwood, & Parasuraman, 2009;Handy, Soltani, & Mangun, 2001;Parks et al, 2013;Parks, Hilimire, & Corballis, 2009Rauss, Pourtois, Vuilleumier, & Schwartz, 2009;Rees et al, 1997;Rorden, Guerrini, Swainson, Lazzeri, & Baylis, 2008;Schwartz et al, 2005;Wang et al, 2012). and both simultaneously (Sabri et al, 2013).…”