title: Inhibition drives early feature-based attention.
abstract: Attention can modulate processing of visual input according to task-relevant features, even as early as approximately 100 ms after stimulus presentation. In the present study, event-related potential and behavioral data revealed that inhibition of distractor features, rather than activation of target features, is the primary driver of early feature-based selection in human observers. This discovery of inhibition consistent with task goals during early visual processing suggests that inhibition plays a much larger role at an earlier stage of target selection than previously recognized. It also highlights the importance of understanding the role of inhibition (in addition to activation) in attention.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moher
authors.forename: Balaji M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Lakshmanan
authors.forename: Howard E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Egeth
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ewen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: event-related potentials; evoked potentials; feature-based attention; inhibition; visual attention