Event Abstract Back to Event The neural correlates evidence for the time course of distractor dilution under attentional load Tzu-Yu Hsu1, Shao-Ming Lee1 and Yei-Yu Yeh1* 1 National Taiwan University, Department of Psychology, Taiwan The locus of attention selection has been a long-lasting debate in cognitive psychology. Perceptual load theory asserts that the locus of selection is early when attentional resource is exhausted by selecting a target among multiple nontargets so that a distractor is excluded from early perceptual analysis. In contrast, the dilution account suggests that a distractor representation is diluted by the multiple nontargets so that it is not processed to the semantic level to interfere with target selection. Behavioral evidence from recent studies supports the dilution account. However, the time course of distractor dilution remains unexplored. Here we exploit event related potential (ERP) to uncover the neural activity in the low-load, high-load, and dilution conditions. In the dilution condition, multiple nontargets are presented as in the high-load condition but target selection is easy. From eighteen participants' behavioral results, RTs showed a significant interaction between load and compatibility. The compatibility effect was the largest in the low-load condition while a small but significant compatibility effect was observed in both the dilution and high-load conditions. However, the equivalent behavioral results between the latter two conditions were not mirrored in the ERP results. Significant N2pc and Pd were obtained for the dilution and low-load conditions, suggesting that similar attentional selection and suppression processes are engaged in both conditions. The P300 amplitude showed a significant compatibility effect in these two conditions. In the high-load condition, a distractor elicited a large N1, did not significantly reduce the target-elicited N2pc when it was on the same side as the target, and reduced the target-elicited N2pc when it was on the opposite side to the target. Distractor compatibility did not modulate P300 amplitude. Taken together, the results suggest that different neural correlates underlie the high-load and dilution conditions. Keywords: Attention, Compatibility, N2pc, PD, perceptual load, dilution Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Attention Citation: Hsu T, Lee S and Yeh Y (2015). The neural correlates evidence for the time course of distractor dilution under attentional load. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00192 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: Prof. Yei-Yu Yeh, National Taiwan University, Department of Psychology, Taipei, Taiwan, yyy@ntu.edu.tw 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 Tzu-Yu Hsu Shao-Ming Lee Yei-Yu Yeh Google Tzu-Yu Hsu Shao-Ming Lee Yei-Yu Yeh Google Scholar Tzu-Yu Hsu Shao-Ming Lee Yei-Yu Yeh PubMed Tzu-Yu Hsu Shao-Ming Lee Yei-Yu Yeh 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.