title: Interplay between supramodal attentional control and capacity limits in the low-level visual processors modulate the tendency to inattention.
abstract: When engaged in a demanding task, individuals may neglect unexpected visual stimuli presented concomitantly. Here we use a change detection task to show that propensity to inattention is associated with a flexible allocation of attentional resources to filter and represent visual information. This was reflected by N2 posterior contralateral (N2pc) and contralateral delay activity (CDA) respectively, but also during high-order reorienting of attentional resources (known as anterior directing attention negativity, ADAN). Results show that differences in noticing and failing to notice unexpected stimuli/changes are associated with different patterns of brain activity. When processing (N2) and working memory (CDA) capacities are low, resources are mostly allocated to small set-sizes and associated with a tendency to filter information during early low-level processing (N2). When resources are high, saturation is obtained with larger set-sizes. This is also associated to a tendency to select (N2) and reorient resources (ADAN) to maintain extra information (CDA).
authors.affiliation: Mace Experimental Research Laboratories in Neuroscience (MERLiN), Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK. Electronic address: m.papera@bbk.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papera
authors.affiliation: Mace Experimental Research Laboratories in Neuroscience (MERLiN), Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Capacity limits; Change detection; Flexible attentional deployment; Inattentional blindness; Prefrontal control