Nogo Stimuli Do Not Receive More Attentional Suppression or Response Inhibition than Neutral Stimuli: Evidence from the N2pc, PD, and N2 Components in a Spatial Cueing Paradigm

Barras, Caroline; Kerzel, Dirk · 2016 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00630

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Summary

This study investigates whether stimuli associated with response inhibition (nogo stimuli) receive greater attentional suppression or response inhibition than neutral, response-irrelevant stimuli. Previous research suggested that the incentive to withhold a response to nogo targets leads to rapid attentional disengagement and subsequent suppression of those features, resulting in behavioral "cueing costs." The authors aimed to replicate these findings using a modified spatial cueing paradigm and to examine the electrophysiological correlates of this process, specifically the N2pc (an index of attentional selection), the PD (an index of attentional suppression), and the N2 (associated with response inhibition or conflict monitoring). The experiment involved participants searching for a color singleton in a target display. They were instructed to respond if the singleton matched a "go" color and to withhold their response if it matched a "nogo" color. The target display was preceded by a cue display containing a color singleton that was either in the go color, the nogo color, or a neutral color. The study measured reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) to assess attentional selection and suppression. The design allowed for the isolation of cue-related processing from target-related processing by analyzing ERPs within specific time windows following cue onset. The results failed to replicate previous findings of enhanced suppression for nogo stimuli. Behaviorally, while go cues produced significant cueing benefits (faster RTs when the cue and target appeared at the same location), nogo cues produced cueing costs similar in magnitude to those produced by neutral cues. There was no significant difference in RTs between nogo and neutral conditions, indicating that nogo stimuli did not receive more attentional suppression than neutral ones. Electrophysiologically, an N2pc was observed for go cues, reflecting attentional selection, but no PD was found for nogo cues, contradicting the hypothesis of active suppression. Furthermore, the N2 component showed similar negativity for both nogo and neutral cues relative to go cues, challenging accounts that attribute the N2 solely to response inhibition. The authors conclude that features associated with nogo targets are not actively suppressed at the level of attention or response selection more than neutral features. Instead, nogo stimuli are efficiently ignored, with attention focused on features requiring a response. The lack of a PD for nogo cues and the similarity in N2 amplitudes between nogo and neutral cues suggest that the incentive to withhold a response does not trigger a distinct suppressive mechanism beyond general ignoring. These findings challenge previous interpretations of cueing costs in nogo paradigms and imply that attentional control mechanisms may prioritize the selection of relevant targets rather than the active suppression of irrelevant or inhibitory stimuli.

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• attention selective divided