Selective Attention to Task-Irrelevant Emotional Distractors Is Unaffected by the Perceptual Load Associated with a Foreground Task

Attar, Catherine Hindi; Müller, Matthias M. · 2012 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037186

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Summary

This study investigates whether the perceptual load of a foreground task modulates the processing of task-irrelevant emotional distractors. While prior research suggests that emotional stimuli receive prioritized neural processing, it remains unclear if this advantage persists when attentional resources are heavily taxed by a demanding primary task. The authors aimed to determine if high perceptual load suppresses the automatic attentional capture typically induced by unpleasant stimuli, thereby testing the interaction between attentional load and emotional salience in early visual processing. To address this, fifteen participants performed a rapid serial visual presentation task involving a central stream of flickering symbols (8.6 Hz) overlaid on background images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) flickering at 12 Hz. Perceptual load was manipulated by assigning subjects to either a low-load condition (simple color detection) or a high-load condition (complex symbol discrimination). The emotional valence of the background distractors was varied between neutral and unpleasant categories. The researchers utilized steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) to measure neural activity in early visual cortex, allowing for the distinct quantification of attentional resource allocation to both the task-relevant symbols and the task-irrelevant distractors based on their specific flicker frequencies. Behavioral performance was also recorded via target detection rates and reaction times. The results demonstrated that unpleasant distractors significantly withdrew processing resources from the foreground task compared to neutral distractors, as evidenced by reduced SSVEP amplitudes for the symbol stream and lower target detection rates. Concurrently, SSVEP amplitudes for the distractor images themselves were enhanced for unpleasant stimuli. Crucially, these effects were unaffected by the level of perceptual load; neither the neural attenuation of task processing nor the enhancement of distractor processing varied between low and high load conditions. Behavioral data confirmed that the load manipulation was effective, with slower reaction times and lower detection rates in the high-load condition, yet the interference caused by emotional distractors remained consistent across both levels. A control experiment confirmed that the lack of load effects on SSVEP amplitudes was not an artifact of the stimulus presentation method. These findings indicate that the preferential processing of emotionally arousing stimuli is robust and operates independently of the attentional demands imposed by a concurrent foreground task. The study challenges models suggesting that high perceptual load can fully suppress the processing of irrelevant emotional information. Instead, it supports the view that emotional salience biases attentional selection in early visual cortex regardless of task difficulty, implying that emotional distractors consume cognitive resources even when subjects are engaged in demanding perceptual tasks. This suggests that the neural mechanisms underlying emotional prioritization are distinct from those governing load-dependent attentional filtering.

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• attention selective divided