Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field
Recent evidence has identified the N140cc lateralized component of event-related potentials as a reliable index of the deployment of attention to task-relevant items in touch. However, existing ERP studies have presented the tactile search array to participants' limbs, most often to the hands....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.934573/full |
| _version_ | 1811292208043655168 |
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| author | Elena Gherri Elena Gherri Felicity White Elisabetta Ambron |
| author_facet | Elena Gherri Elena Gherri Felicity White Elisabetta Ambron |
| author_sort | Elena Gherri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent evidence has identified the N140cc lateralized component of event-related potentials as a reliable index of the deployment of attention to task-relevant items in touch. However, existing ERP studies have presented the tactile search array to participants' limbs, most often to the hands. Here, we investigated distractor interference effects when the tactile search array was presented to a portion of the body that is less lateralized and peripheral compared to the hands. Participants were asked to localize a tactile target presented among distractors in a circular arrangement to their back. The N140cc was elicited contralateral to the target when the singleton distractor was absent. Its amplitude was reduced when the singleton distractor was present and contralateral to the target, suggesting that attention was directed at least in part to the distractor when the singletons are on opposite sides. However, similar N140cc were observed when the singleton distractor was ipsilateral to the target compared to distractor absent trials. We suggest that when target and singleton distractor are ipsilateral, the exact localization of the target requires the attentional processing of all items on the same side of the array, similar to distractor absent trials. Together, these observations replicate the distractor interference effects previously observed for the hands, suggesting that analogous mechanisms guide attentional selectivity across different body parts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:41:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e70aa5d8329b497d979a868d7c6cd115 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:41:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e70aa5d8329b497d979a868d7c6cd1152022-12-22T03:01:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-07-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.934573934573Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile FieldElena Gherri0Elena Gherri1Felicity White2Elisabetta Ambron3Dipartimento di Filosofia e Comunicazione, University of Bologna, Bologna, ItalyHuman Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomHuman Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomLaboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation, Neurology Department, School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United StatesRecent evidence has identified the N140cc lateralized component of event-related potentials as a reliable index of the deployment of attention to task-relevant items in touch. However, existing ERP studies have presented the tactile search array to participants' limbs, most often to the hands. Here, we investigated distractor interference effects when the tactile search array was presented to a portion of the body that is less lateralized and peripheral compared to the hands. Participants were asked to localize a tactile target presented among distractors in a circular arrangement to their back. The N140cc was elicited contralateral to the target when the singleton distractor was absent. Its amplitude was reduced when the singleton distractor was present and contralateral to the target, suggesting that attention was directed at least in part to the distractor when the singletons are on opposite sides. However, similar N140cc were observed when the singleton distractor was ipsilateral to the target compared to distractor absent trials. We suggest that when target and singleton distractor are ipsilateral, the exact localization of the target requires the attentional processing of all items on the same side of the array, similar to distractor absent trials. Together, these observations replicate the distractor interference effects previously observed for the hands, suggesting that analogous mechanisms guide attentional selectivity across different body parts.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.934573/fulltouchselective attentionevent-related potentials (ERP)N140cctactile search |
| spellingShingle | Elena Gherri Elena Gherri Felicity White Elisabetta Ambron Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field Frontiers in Psychology touch selective attention event-related potentials (ERP) N140cc tactile search |
| title | Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field |
| title_full | Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field |
| title_fullStr | Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field |
| title_full_unstemmed | Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field |
| title_short | Searching on the Back: Attentional Selectivity in the Periphery of the Tactile Field |
| title_sort | searching on the back attentional selectivity in the periphery of the tactile field |
| topic | touch selective attention event-related potentials (ERP) N140cc tactile search |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.934573/full |
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