The N2pc component reliably captures attentional bias in social anxiety

Reutter, Mario; Hewig, Johannes; Wieser, Matthias J.; Osinsky, Roman

doi:10.1111/psyp.12809

Cited by 78 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(100 reference statements)

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“…To calculate N2pc we used signals from the P7/P8 electrodes in the 200 -400 ms time window (Fig. 3), which is largely consistent with other studies using N2pc as measure of attention capture (e.g, Woodman et al, 2009;Reutter et al, 2017, Wójcik et al, 2019.…”

Section: Dot-probe Task -Electrophysiological Resultssupporting

confidence: 62%

“…The 200-400 ms temporal window was used for the N2pc analysis, which is largely consistent with previous studies (e.g. Woodman et al, 2009;Reutter et al, 2017, Wójcik et al, 2019. Further, based on the visual inspection of the obtained ERP waveforms a 100-200 ms window was analysed in an exploratory way.…”

Section: Eeg Recording and Analysismentioning

confidence: 88%

“…While the N2pc component typically emerges around 200 ms after the stimulus onset (e.g. Woodman et al, 2009;Reutter et al, 2017, Wójcik et al, 2019, the memorized faces caused a contralateral negativity already around 100 ms (i.e. co-occurring with the P100 component).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complex naturalistic stimuli are prioritized by attention when maintained in visual working memory

Rutkowska¹,

Doradzińska²,

Bola³

2020

Preprint

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Recent studies suggest that a stimulus actively maintained in working memory (WM) automatically captures visual attention when subsequently perceived. However, such a WM guidance effect has been so far observed only for stimuli defined by simple features, such as colour or orientation. Here we investigated whether the effect occurs also for naturalistic stimuli, whose identity is defined by multiple features and relations among them, specifically for faces and houses. The experiment comprised two conditions: a WM condition and a mere exposure condition. Subjects (N = 28) either memorized or merely saw a template stimulus, and then performed several dot-probe trials, in which pairs of stimuli were presented laterally as distractors (memorized or seen on the one side, control stimulus on the other) and followed by a target dot. We found that response times were faster when targets followed a memorized stimulus than when they followed a control one, and that the memory-matching stimuli evoked the N2pc ERP component. Further, in an exploratory analysis we found electrophysiological evidence for an early (100-200 ms post stimulus) prioritization specific to the memorized faces. Importantly, neither the RT, nor the electrophysiological effects were observed in the mere exposure condition. In conclusion, showing an attention capture by complex stimuli maintained in WM contributes to identifying the mechanism of WM-based attentional selection and provides novel evidence that complex stimuli can, in principle, guide attention automatically. Finally, we interpret the early prioritization of the memorized faces as evidence supporting the sensory recruitment theory of WM.

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Section: Dot-probe Task -Electrophysiological Resultssupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Eeg Recording and Analysismentioning

confidence: 88%

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Complex naturalistic stimuli are prioritized by attention when maintained in visual working memory

Rutkowska¹,

Doradzińska²,

Bola³

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Attentional allocation is typically indexed by the N2pc ERP component, an occipital negativity contralateral to the side of an attended stimulus and manifesting between 180 and 300 ms post stimulus onset (Eimer and Kiss, 2008;Holmes et al, 2014;Kappenman et al, 2015;Kappenman et al, 2014;Osinsky et al, 2014;Reutter et al, 2017;Weymar et al, 2011). The N2pc is notably assumed to reflect the attentional selection of a target stimulus among distractors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal brain dynamics underlying attentional bias modifications

Sallard

Hartmann

Ptak

et al. 2018

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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Exaggerated attentional biases toward specific elements of the environment contribute to the maintenance of several psychiatric conditions, such as biases to threatening faces in social anxiety. Although recent literature indicates that attentional bias modification may constitute an effective approach for psychiatric remediation, the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. We addressed this question by recording EEG in 24 healthy participants performing a modified dot-probe task in which pairs of neutral cues (colored shapes) were replaced by probe stimuli requiring a discrimination judgment. To induce an attentional bias toward or away from the cues, the probes were systematically presented either at the same or at the opposite position of a specific cue color. This paradigm enabled participants to spontaneously develop biases to initially unbiased, neutral cues, as measured by the response speed to the probe presented after the cues. Behavioral result indicated that the ABM procedure induced approach and avoidance biases. The influence of ABM on inhibitory control was assessed in a separated Go/NoGo task: changes in AB did not influence participants' capacity to inhibit their responses to the cues. Attentional bias modification was associated with a topographic modulation of event-related potentials already 50-84 ms following the onset of the cues. Statistical analyses of distributed electrical source estimations revealed that the development of attentional biases was associated with decreased activity in the left temporo-parieto-occipital junction. These findings suggest that attentional bias modification affects early sensory processing phases related to the extraction of information based on stimulus saliency.

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“…The psychometric properties of reaction time differences (henceforth "RT bias") have rarely been investigated. Those researchers who have quantified reliability scores of RT bias, however, found unacceptably low values (Dear, Sharpe, Nicholas, & Refshauge, 2011; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.05.001 Received 24 January 2018; Received in revised form 18 January 2019; Accepted 10 May 2019 Price, Greven, Siegle, Koster, & Raedt, 2015;Puls & Rothermund, 2017;Reutter, Hewig, Wieser, & Osinsky, 2017;Rodebaugh et al, 2016;Schmukle, 2005;Staugaard, 2009;Van Bockstaele et al, 2011;Waechter, Nelson, Wright, Hyatt, & Oakman, 2014;Waechter & Stolz, 2015), rendering RT bias unsuitable for research on individual differences and thus for differential indication. Possibly due to this unreliability, symptom changes hardly correlate with alterations in RT bias (Jones & Sharpe, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Attentional bias modification in social anxiety: Effects on the N2pc component

Reutter

Hewig

Wieser

et al. 2019

Behaviour Research and Therapy

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A B S T R A C TSeveral meta-analyses to date have confirmed the efficacy of attentional bias modification (ABM) in shifting reaction times away from threatening stimuli, reducing anxiety symptoms, and buffering against stressor vulnerability. The reliability of reaction time differences, however, has been found to show unacceptable psychometric properties. In this study, we tested the impact of an extensive Dot-Probe ABM procedure, consisting of close to 7000 trials, concurrently with behavioral and electrophysiological measures within a large sample of over 100 highly socially anxious participants. Results indicated that the N2pc component demonstrates superior internal consistency and more statistical power in detecting attentional biases and their modification than reaction time (RT) differences. RTs were neither indicative of an attentional bias before ABM nor of a modification over time. In contrast, the N2pc indexed both an initial attentional preference for threatening stimuli and an alteration of this relationship after training. Outcomes were not specific for attentional training away from threat but also occurred in the no-contingency control procedure, casting doubt on the theoretic underpinnings of ABM. Electrophysiological measures are an important complement to the ABM literature and should be further utilized to assess attentional biases with excellent reliability.

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The N2pc component reliably captures attentional bias in social anxiety

Cited by 78 publications

References 64 publications

Complex naturalistic stimuli are prioritized by attention when maintained in visual working memory

Complex naturalistic stimuli are prioritized by attention when maintained in visual working memory

Spatiotemporal brain dynamics underlying attentional bias modifications

Attentional bias modification in social anxiety: Effects on the N2pc component

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