Cueing distraction: electrophysiological evidence for anticipatory active suppression of distractor location

Heuer, Anna; Schubö, Anna

doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01211-4

Cited by 29 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…suppressive mechanism, which is stronger in contexts that require strong suppression (Hickey et al, 2009), these findings are typically interpreted to reflect the suppression of salient distractors before they capture attention (Gaspelin & Luck, 2018b). To date, it is unclear why in certain contexts the Pd increases, whereas in others, as in the current study, its amplitudes decreases as a function of expectations (Heuer & Schubö, 2019). Differences in distractor salience or in the presence of nonsingleton distractors may explain this discrepancy in findings.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Neural mechanisms underlying expectation-dependent inhibition of distracting information

Moorselaar

Lampers

Cordesius

et al. 2020

eLife

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predictions based on learned statistical regularities in the visual world have been shown to facilitate attention and goal-directed behavior by sharpening the sensory representation of goal-relevant stimuli in advance. Yet, how the brain learns to ignore predictable goal-irrelevant or distracting information is unclear. Here, we used EEG and a visual search task in which the predictability of a distractor’s location and/or spatial frequency was manipulated to determine how spatial and feature distractor expectations are neurally implemented and reduce distractor interference. We find that expected distractor features could not only be decoded pre-stimulus, but their representation differed from the representation of that same feature when part of the target. Spatial distractor expectations did not induce changes in preparatory neural activity, but a strongly reduced Pd, an ERP index of inhibition. These results demonstrate that neural effects of statistical learning critically depend on the task relevance and dimension (spatial, feature) of predictions.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Neural mechanisms underlying expectation-dependent inhibition of distracting information

Moorselaar

Lampers

Cordesius

et al. 2020

eLife

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Notably, several recent studies in humans have associated distractor learning with decreases in the amplitude of the Pd ERP component, indicative of a reduced distractor inhibition. 76,125,126 In our recent study, 76 for example, the Pd was virtually eliminated when the location of the distractor was learned, in the absence of any changes in early visual processing, as reflected in the amplitude of the early visual-evoked P1 and N1 ERP components, or any modulations of the N2pc (Fig. 2C).…”

Section: First Trial Last Trialmentioning

confidence: 70%

Inhibition in selective attention

Moorselaar

Slagter

2020

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

139

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Our ability to focus on goal‐relevant aspects of the environment is critically dependent on our ability to ignore or inhibit distracting information. One perspective is that distractor inhibition is under similar voluntary control as attentional facilitation of target processing. However, a rapidly growing body of research shows that distractor inhibition often relies on prior experience with the distracting information or other mechanisms that need not rely on active representation in working memory. Yet, how and when these different forms of inhibition are neurally implemented remains largely unclear. Here, we review findings from recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies to address this outstanding question. We specifically explore how experience with distracting information may change the processing of that information in the context of current predictive processing views of perception: by modulating a distractor's representation already in anticipation of the distractor, or after integration of top‐down and bottom‐up sensory signals. We also outline directions for future research necessary to enhance our understanding of how the brain filters out distracting information.

show abstract

“…Notably, several recent studies in humans have associated distractor learning with decreases in the amplitude of the Pd ERP component, indicative of a reduced distractor inhibition (76,126,127). In our recent study (76), for example, the Pd was virtually eliminated when the location of the distractor was learned, in the absence of any changes in early visual processing, as reflected in the amplitude of the early visual-evoked P1 and N1 ERP components, or any modulations of the N2pc (Figure 2C).…”

Section: Post-distractor Inhibition: Pre-attentive and Reactive Inhibmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inhibition in selective attention

Moorselaar¹,

Slagter²

2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Our ability to focus on goal-relevant aspects of the environment is critically dependent on our ability to ignore or inhibit distracting information. One perspective is that distractor inhibition is under similar voluntary control as attentional facilitation of target processing. However, a rapidly growing body of research shows that distractor inhibition often relies on prior experience with the distracting information or other mechanisms that need not rely on active representation in working memory. Yet, how and when these different forms of inhibition are neurally implemented remains largely unclear. Here, we review findings from recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies to address this outstanding question. We specifically explore how experience with distracting information may change the processing of that information in the context of current predictive processing views of perception: by modulating a distractor’s representation already in anticipation of the distractor, or after integration of top-down and bottom-up sensory signals. We also outline directions for future research necessary to enhance our understanding of how the brain filters out distracting information.

show abstract

Cueing distraction: electrophysiological evidence for anticipatory active suppression of distractor location

Cited by 29 publications

References 30 publications

Neural mechanisms underlying expectation-dependent inhibition of distracting information

Neural mechanisms underlying expectation-dependent inhibition of distracting information

Inhibition in selective attention

Inhibition in selective attention

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About