ERP evidence for spatial attention being directed away from disgusting locations

When we change sidewalks because we see vomit or dog feces, we are avoiding disgusting stimuli. However, it is unclear how we shift spatial attention itself away from disgusting stimuli. In the present study, we used a multisensory spatial-cuing paradigm as a tool to test if a disgusting sound is avoided by redirecting visual attention to the opposite side. Our results show that behavioral responses as well as the P3 component indicated an inverse validity effect when cued by disgust. Validity differences on the P3 were increased ipsilaterally instead of contralaterally over visual electrode sites. In contrast, the N1 component, time-locked to sound cues, indicated the typical contralateral attentional arousal effect. Thus, disgusting sound cues first attract attention toward their location and later, after the processing of their emotional content, direct spatial attention away from the location of their origin to the opposite location.