Abstract
The N2-posterior-contralateral (N2pc) component is an index in the domain of event-related potentials for exploring the underlying mechanism of visual-spatial attention. It has been disputed whether the attentional selection reflected by N2pc is primarily due to distracter suppression or target enhancement processes. We addressed this controversy by combining the pop-out item and the target feature, and instructed participants whether the pop-out item included the target feature. Thus, in a visual search task, bilateral visual stimuli including a pop-out item and three distractors were displayed simultaneously. The pop-out detection was analyzed under varying two factors: (a) pop-out item as a target or non-target (b) the distractors containing a target feature or non-target feature. Although all conditions had a salient effect on behavioral performance, the reliable difference of N2pc existed only between the target condition and the non-target condition. These results provided strong support for the hypothesis of target enhancement processes.
Highlights
The event-related potential (ERP) components are generally applied to explore the specific neural process and disclose the underlying mechanism of brain function with its high temporal resolution when a certain type of task is manipulated
The ERP component discussed in the present study, which was labeled as N2-posterior-contralateral (N2pc), is closely related to spatial attention, reflecting the process of attentional distribution to the current task-related stimulus (Luck and Hillyard, 1994a,b; Eimer, 1996, 1998; Luck et al, 1997; Luck and Ford, 1998; Woodman and Luck, 1999; Brisson and Jolicoeur, 2007b; Brisson et al, 2007; Mazza et al, 2009; Töllner et al, 2011; Zhao et al, 2011; Grubert and Eimer, 2016; Liu et al, 2016)
The average accuracy of all four cases was above 97%, and error trials were excluded from the analysis of response time (RT)
Summary
The event-related potential (ERP) components are generally applied to explore the specific neural process and disclose the underlying mechanism of brain function with its high temporal resolution when a certain type of task is manipulated. The ERP component discussed in the present study, which was labeled as N2-posterior-contralateral (N2pc), is closely related to spatial attention, reflecting the process of attentional distribution to the current task-related stimulus (Luck and Hillyard, 1994a,b; Eimer, 1996, 1998; Luck et al, 1997; Luck and Ford, 1998; Woodman and Luck, 1999; Brisson and Jolicoeur, 2007b; Brisson et al, 2007; Mazza et al, 2009; Töllner et al, 2011; Zhao et al, 2011; Grubert and Eimer, 2016; Liu et al, 2016). In the case of the left posterior electrode sites, the targets appeared in right visual field could evoke a more negative amplitude than appeared in left visual field. The latency of the N2pc is typically 180–350 ms after the appearance
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