Event Abstract Back to Event Rewarded memories impact visual cortical processing of relevant objects in familiar scenes Sonia Doallo1*, Zita Patai2 and Anna C. Nobre2 1 University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain 2 University of Oxford, United Kingdom Previous experiences, stored as long-term memories (LTM), can guide attentional orienting and enhance detection of relevant objects within familiar natural contexts (Summerfield et al., 2006). In the present study, we examined, by means of event-related potentials (ERPs), whether reward can potentiate the effects of memory-guided orienting on perceptual discrimination, and if so, the level(s) at which visual neural processing is biased by reward-associated memory-based orienting. Participants (n = 14) performed an orienting task in which recent LTM for specific locations of target objects within natural scenes, which could be associated with learned reward values, were used as attentional cues predicting the location where the target would appear. Spatial expectations from LTM resulted in benefits in performance, as reflected by faster and more accurate responses to target stimuli presented at memorized versus non-memorized locations; furthermore, these memory-driven effects were potentiated when cues from LTM had positive reward associations. The reward-related behavioral improvement was accompanied by modulations of ongoing neural activity at different stages of visual processing and target selection, starting as early as 100-140 ms after scene onset. The present results demonstrate the role of reward in determining how efficiently spatial memories drive attention and visual search processes in real-world scenes and influence the ongoing visual cortical processing in the long-term. Funding: Supported by the Wellcome Trust. The first author was supported by postdoctoral contracts from MEC-FECYT and Xunta de Galicia. Keywords: EEG, emotion Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Emotion, Motivation and the Social Brain Citation: Doallo S, Patai Z and Nobre AC (2011). Rewarded memories impact visual cortical processing of relevant objects in familiar scenes. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00285 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: 22 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Sonia Doallo, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, sonia.doallo@usc.es 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 Sonia Doallo Zita Patai Anna C Nobre Google Sonia Doallo Zita Patai Anna C Nobre Google Scholar Sonia Doallo Zita Patai Anna C Nobre PubMed Sonia Doallo Zita Patai Anna C Nobre 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.