Patient study to investigate the visual processing of distracting stimuli
2025
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Through experience, humans can learn to suppress locations that frequently contain distracting stimuli. However, the neural mechanism underlying learned suppression remains largely unknown. In the present study, two types of brain activity measurements (steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs)and event-related potentials (ERPs)) were combined to investigate the mechanism behind statistically learned spatial suppression. Brain activity was recorded using a 64-electrode cap placed on the participants' scalp. Additionally, eye movements were recorded using electrodes and an eye-tracking system. Twenty-four male and female participants performed a version of the additional singleton search task in which one location frequently contained a distractor stimulus. The search stimuli constantly flickered on and off the screen, resulting in steady state entrainment. Prior to search onset, no differences in the SSVEP response were found, although a post-hoc analysis did reveal proactive alpha lateralization. Following search onset, clear evoked differences emerged in both the SSVEP and ERP signals at the suppressed location relative to all other locations. The early timing of these evoked modulations suggests that learned distractor suppression occurs at the initial stages of visual processing.
Learning modulates early encephalographic responses to distracting stimuli: a combined SSVEP and ERP study
Dock H. Duncan
Added on: 05-05-2025
[1] https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/04/03/JNEUROSCI.1973-24.2025[2] https://biermann-medizin.de/visuelle-verarbeitung-gehirn-lernt-mit-der-zeit-das-ausblenden-stoerender-reize/
