The N2pc component and its links to attention shifts and spatially selective visual processing

Kiss, Mónika; van Velzen, José; Eimer, Martin · 2007 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00611.x

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Summary

This study investigates the specific cognitive processes underlying the N2pc event-related potential (ERP) component, a marker widely used in visual attention research. While the N2pc is traditionally interpreted as reflecting the selective attentional processing of target stimuli among distractors, it remains unclear whether it also reflects prior stages of attentional processing, such as covert orienting or spatially selective processing independent of target presence. The authors aimed to determine if the N2pc is exclusively linked to target selection or if it is also associated with attention shifts and the processing of task-relevant locations in the absence of a target. The experiment employed a spatial cueing procedure combined with a visual search task involving twelve participants. On each trial, a central spatial precue was followed by a visual search array. In the "informative" condition, cues accurately predicted the side of an upcoming singleton target (a diamond among squares), allowing participants to covertly shift attention prior to stimulus onset. In the "uninformative" condition, cues provided no spatial information, preventing preparatory attention shifts. Additionally, one-third of trials presented homogeneous arrays of non-target squares without any candidate target. EEG data were analyzed to measure the N2pc (200–300 ms post-stimulus) and preparatory components indicative of attention shifts (ADAN and LDAP) during the cue-target interval. The results demonstrated that the N2pc elicited by target-present arrays was unaffected by the informativeness of the cue. Participants exhibited a robust N2pc in both informative and uninformative conditions, indicating that the component is not associated with the covert orienting of attention, which had already occurred in the informative condition prior to target onset. This was confirmed by the presence of ADAN and LDAP components only in the informative condition. Crucially, an attenuated N2pc was observed in response to uniform non-target arrays in the informative cue condition. This finding suggests that the N2pc can be elicited by spatially specific processing of stimulus features at task-relevant locations, even when no perceptually unique target is present. These findings refine the interpretation of the N2pc, distinguishing it from ERP components linked to attentional shifts (ADAN/LDAP) and early sensory gating (P1/N1). The study concludes that the N2pc reflects spatially selective processing of visual features at attended locations, which occurs prior to or independent of the final selection of a specific target. This implies that the N2pc is not solely a marker of target selection but also captures the spatially specific processing of visual input guided by top-down attentional signals, even in the absence of a distinct target stimulus.

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• attention selective divided