Speed-accuracy trade-off influences the effect of attentional EEG alpha modulation

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Speed-accuracy trade-off influences the effect of attentional EEG alpha modulation Katharina Limbach1, 2* and Paul M. Corballis1 1 University of Auckland, School of Psychology, New Zealand 2 University of Auckland, Centre for Brain Research, New Zealand Recent evidence has related the spatially specific modulation of posterior EEG alpha power (8 to 12 Hz) to the orienting of selective attention. Alpha power is typically reduced over the side of the head contralateral to the attended side of space (e.g., MS Worden et al., J. Neurosci., 2000; G Thut et al., J. Neurosci., 2006; TA Rihs et al., Eur. J. Neurosci., 2007). The behavioural relevance of this modulation is not yet clear (e.g., G Thut et al., 2006; S Haegens et al., J. Neurosci., 2011). Here, we modulated the speed-accuracy trade-off to investigate the relationship between alpha power and behavioural performance in more detail. EEG was recorded while 15 participants performed a cued selective attention task under three different response-deadline conditions. Behavioural data show that participants were more accurate but slower if they had more time to respond, and faster but less accurate under a stricter response deadline. As reported previously (TA Rihs et al., NeuroImage, 2009), we found that only participants with high baseline alpha-power modulated their alpha power (modulators) whereas participants with low baseline alpha-power did not (non-modulators). Both groups showed similar performance (indexed by d') for validly cued trials, but performance for invalidly cued trials was influenced by both alpha modulation and response deadlines. When participants had sufficient time to respond (i.e., a relatively long response deadline), modulators incurred greater performance costs for invalidly cued targets than did non-modulators. However when pushed for speed, both groups incurred similar performance costs for invalid cues. This suggests that participants with high baseline alpha-power, which seems to be less favourable for performance in general, use the modulation to increase performance in the cued location. On the other hand, participants with low baseline alpha-power seem to be able to distribute attention more broadly across the visual field. Keywords: Visual Perception, EEG, selective attention, Alpha oscillations, Speed-accuracy trade-off Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Attention Citation: Limbach K and Corballis PM (2015). Speed-accuracy trade-off influences the effect of attentional EEG alpha modulation. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00235 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Mrs. Katharina Limbach, University of Auckland, School of Psychology, Auckland, New Zealand, klim366@aucklanduni.ac.nz Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Katharina Limbach Paul M Corballis Google Katharina Limbach Paul M Corballis Google Scholar Katharina Limbach Paul M Corballis PubMed Katharina Limbach Paul M Corballis Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.