Reorienting of spatial attention in gaze cuing is reflected in N2pc

Research has shown that gaze cuing of attention is reflected in the modulation of P1 and N1 components of ERPs time-locked to target onset. Studies focusing on cue-locked analyses have produced mixed results. The present study examined ERP reflections of gaze cuing in further detail by recording ele...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social neuroscience 2011-06, Vol.6 (3), p.257-269
Main Authors: Galfano, Giovanni, Sarlo, Michela, Sassi, Federica, Munafò, Marianna, Fuentes, Luis J., Umiltà, Carlo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affectivity. Emotion
Attention
Attention - physiology
Behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Cues
Electrophysiology
Emotion
Emotions
Evoked Potentials, Visual - physiology
Facial Expression
Female
Fixation, Ocular - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gaze cuing
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
N2pc
Neurosciences
Orientation - physiology
Personality. Affectivity
Photic Stimulation - methods
Physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Space Perception - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Research has shown that gaze cuing of attention is reflected in the modulation of P1 and N1 components of ERPs time-locked to target onset. Studies focusing on cue-locked analyses have produced mixed results. The present study examined ERP reflections of gaze cuing in further detail by recording electric brain activity from the scalp of participants engaged in a spatial cuing paradigm with noninformative gaze cues embedded in fearful, disgusted, or neutral faces. Unlike previous work, we focused on N2pc, a recent ERP index of attention shifting over space. Behavioral data showed that gaze-driven orienting was not influenced by facial expression. Importantly, electrophysiological data showed a significant amplitude modulation of the N2pc time-locked to target onset as a function of cue-target spatial congruence. This pattern, however, was independent of facial expression. The results are interpreted as evidence that N2pc can be used as a marker of reorienting of attention in spatially incongruent trials due to gaze cuing. The overall findings support the idea that the effects of facial expression on gaze cuing are weak and likely context-dependent.
ISSN:1747-0919
1747-0927
DOI:10.1080/17470919.2010.515722