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The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing

BACKGROUND: The impact of task relevance on event-related potential amplitudes of early visual processing was previously demonstrated. Study designs, however, differ greatly, not allowing simultaneous investigation of how both degree of distraction and task relevance influence processing variations....

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Autores principales: Biehl, Stefanie C, Ehlis, Ann-Christine, Müller, Laura D, Niklaus, Andrea, Pauli, Paul, Herrmann, Martin J
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3851833/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24079268
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-14-107
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author Biehl, Stefanie C
Ehlis, Ann-Christine
Müller, Laura D
Niklaus, Andrea
Pauli, Paul
Herrmann, Martin J
author_facet Biehl, Stefanie C
Ehlis, Ann-Christine
Müller, Laura D
Niklaus, Andrea
Pauli, Paul
Herrmann, Martin J
author_sort Biehl, Stefanie C
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The impact of task relevance on event-related potential amplitudes of early visual processing was previously demonstrated. Study designs, however, differ greatly, not allowing simultaneous investigation of how both degree of distraction and task relevance influence processing variations. In our study, we combined different features of previous tasks. We used a modified 1-back task in which task relevant and task irrelevant stimuli were alternately presented. The task irrelevant stimuli could be from the same or from a different category as the task relevant stimuli, thereby producing high and low distracting task irrelevant stimuli. In addition, the paradigm comprised a passive viewing condition. Thus, our paradigm enabled us to compare the processing of task relevant stimuli, task irrelevant stimuli with differing degrees of distraction, and passively viewed stimuli. EEG data from twenty participants was collected and mean P100 and N170 amplitudes were analyzed. Furthermore, a potential connection of stimulus processing and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was investigated. RESULTS: Our results show a modulation of peak N170 amplitudes by task relevance. N170 amplitudes to task relevant stimuli were significantly higher than to high distracting task irrelevant or passively viewed stimuli. In addition, amplitudes to low distracting task irrelevant stimuli were significantly higher than to high distracting stimuli. N170 amplitudes to passively viewed stimuli were not significantly different from either kind of task irrelevant stimuli. Participants with more symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity showed decreased N170 amplitudes across all task conditions. On a behavioral level, lower N170 enhancement efficiency was significantly correlated with false alarm responses. CONCLUSIONS: Our results point to a processing enhancement of task relevant stimuli. Unlike P100 amplitudes, N170 amplitudes were strongly influenced by enhancement and enhancement efficiency seemed to have direct behavioral consequences. These findings have potential implications for models of clinical disorders affecting selective attention, especially ADHD.
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spelling pubmed-38518332013-12-06 The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing Biehl, Stefanie C Ehlis, Ann-Christine Müller, Laura D Niklaus, Andrea Pauli, Paul Herrmann, Martin J BMC Neurosci Research Article BACKGROUND: The impact of task relevance on event-related potential amplitudes of early visual processing was previously demonstrated. Study designs, however, differ greatly, not allowing simultaneous investigation of how both degree of distraction and task relevance influence processing variations. In our study, we combined different features of previous tasks. We used a modified 1-back task in which task relevant and task irrelevant stimuli were alternately presented. The task irrelevant stimuli could be from the same or from a different category as the task relevant stimuli, thereby producing high and low distracting task irrelevant stimuli. In addition, the paradigm comprised a passive viewing condition. Thus, our paradigm enabled us to compare the processing of task relevant stimuli, task irrelevant stimuli with differing degrees of distraction, and passively viewed stimuli. EEG data from twenty participants was collected and mean P100 and N170 amplitudes were analyzed. Furthermore, a potential connection of stimulus processing and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was investigated. RESULTS: Our results show a modulation of peak N170 amplitudes by task relevance. N170 amplitudes to task relevant stimuli were significantly higher than to high distracting task irrelevant or passively viewed stimuli. In addition, amplitudes to low distracting task irrelevant stimuli were significantly higher than to high distracting stimuli. N170 amplitudes to passively viewed stimuli were not significantly different from either kind of task irrelevant stimuli. Participants with more symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity showed decreased N170 amplitudes across all task conditions. On a behavioral level, lower N170 enhancement efficiency was significantly correlated with false alarm responses. CONCLUSIONS: Our results point to a processing enhancement of task relevant stimuli. Unlike P100 amplitudes, N170 amplitudes were strongly influenced by enhancement and enhancement efficiency seemed to have direct behavioral consequences. These findings have potential implications for models of clinical disorders affecting selective attention, especially ADHD. BioMed Central 2013-10-01 /pmc/articles/PMC3851833/ /pubmed/24079268 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-14-107 Text en Copyright © 2013 Biehl et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Biehl, Stefanie C
Ehlis, Ann-Christine
Müller, Laura D
Niklaus, Andrea
Pauli, Paul
Herrmann, Martin J
The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
title The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
title_full The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
title_fullStr The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
title_full_unstemmed The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
title_short The impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
title_sort impact of task relevance and degree of distraction on stimulus processing
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3851833/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24079268
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-14-107
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