title: From pre-attentive processes to durable representation: an ERP index of visual distraction.
abstract: Visual search and oddball paradigms were combined to investigate memory for to-be-ignored color changes in a group of 12 healthy participants. The onset of unexpected color change of an irrelevant stimulus evoked two reliable ERP effects: a component of the event-related potential (ERP), similar to the visual mismatch negativity response (vMMN), with a latency of 120-160 ms and a posterior distribution over the left hemisphere and Late Fronto-Central Negativity (LFCN) with a latency of 320-400 ms, apparent at fronto-central electrodes and some posterior sites. Color change of that irrelevant stimulus also slowed identification of a visual target, indicating distraction. The amplitude of this color-change vMMN, but not LFCN, indexed this distraction effect. That is, electrophysiological and behavioral measures were correlated. The interval between visual scenes approximated 1s (611-1629 ms), indicating that the brain's sensory memory for the color of the preceding visual scenes must persist for at least 600 ms. Therefore, in the case of the neural code for color, durable memory representations are formed in an obligatory manner.
authors.affiliation: MEG Center, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia; Autism Research Laboratory, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia. Electronic address: olga.v.sysoeva@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Olga V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Sysoeva
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Elke B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Russia; Center of Neurobiological Diagnostics, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russia; Scientific and Practical Center of Child Psychiatry and Neurology, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Sorokin
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Finland; Center for Mind and Brain, University of CA, Davis, USA; Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Color change; Distraction; Event-related potentials (ERP); Late fronto-central negativity (LFCN); Mismatch negativity (MMN); Visual search