The Behavioral and Electrophysiological Effects of Discrimination and Inhibition Training on Visual Selective Attention: an ERP and Time-Frequency Analysis

Abstract

Enhancement of task relevant information and the suppression of task irrelevant information are the two co-occurring mechanisms of selective attention. Studies have shown that ERP components (specifically N2, P3, and RP) and the alpha band (8-14 Hz) rhythm correspond to neural mechanisms and processes of visual selective attention, especially conflict resolution. Tested by a modified version of the visual flanker task, a conflict task employing inhibitory control, two groups of healthy adults were exposed to three weeks of cognitive training; either discrimination training (trained to discriminate target orientation) or inhibition training (trained to ignore interfering distractors) to investigate whether training impacts behavioral and neural correlates associated with stimuli processing. Behavioral analysis revealed a reduction in both Garner interference [F(1,33)=6.85, p=0.01] and Congruity effect [F(2,66)= 4.35, p=.02] after inhibition training, indicating better conflict resolution. Neural analyses revealed that the amplitude of N2 to target stimuli increased equally for both congruent and incongruent trials, albeit to a larger degree after inhibition training compared to discrimination training [F(1,32)= 5.18, pF(1,32)= 5.69, pF(1,32)= 4.87,