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Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Nuiten, Stijn Adriaan  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9248-166X
Canales-Johnson, Andrés  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2747-8894
Fahrenfort, Johannes Jacobus  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9025-3436

Abstract

Conflict detection in sensory input is central to adaptive human behavior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, past research has shown that conflict may even be detected in the absence of conflict awareness, suggesting that conflict detection is an automatic process that does not require attention. To test the possibility of conflict processing in the absence of attention, we manipulated task relevance and response overlap of potentially conflicting stimulus features across six behavioral tasks. Multivariate analyses on human electroencephalographic data revealed neural signatures of conflict only when at least one feature of a conflicting stimulus was attended, regardless of whether that feature was part of the conflict, or overlaps with the response. In contrast, neural signatures of basic sensory processes were present even when a stimulus was completely unattended. These data reveal an attentional bottleneck at the level of objects, suggesting that object-based attention is a prerequisite for cognitive control operations involved in conflict detection.

Description

Keywords

EEG, cognitive conflict, cognitive control, decoding, human, neuroscience, object-based attention, task-relevance, Acoustic Stimulation, Adolescent, Adult, Cognition, Conflict, Psychological, Electroencephalography, Female, Humans, Male, Perception, Psychological Tests, Young Adult

Journal Title

Elife

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2050-084X
2050-084X

Volume Title

10

Publisher

eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd