Kranczioch Cornelia, Debener Stefan, Engel Andreas K
Cellular Neurobiology Group, Institute of Medicine, Research Center Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003 Jun;17(1):177-87. doi: 10.1016/s0926-6410(03)00092-2.
The attentional blink phenomenon results from a transitory impairment of attention that can occur during rapid serial stimulus presentation. A previous study on the physiological correlates of the attentional blink employing event-related potentials (ERPs) suggested that the P3 ERP component for target items presented during this impairment is completely suppressed. This has been taken to indicate that the target-related information does not reach working memory. To reevaluate this hypothesis, we compared ERPs evoked by detected and missed targets in the attentional blink paradigm. Eighteen subjects performed a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task in which either one target (control condition) or two targets had to be detected. ERPs elicited by the second target were analyzed separately for trials in which the target had been detected and missed, respectively. As predicted, detected targets did elicit a P3 during and after the attentional blink period. No clear P3 was found for detected targets presented before the attentional blink, that is, at lag 1. In contrast, missed targets generally did not evoke a P3. Our results provide evidence that targets presented during the attentional blink period can reach working memory. Thus, these findings contribute to evaluating theories of the attentional blink phenomenon.
注意瞬脱现象源于快速序列刺激呈现过程中可能出现的注意力短暂受损。先前一项利用事件相关电位（ERP）研究注意瞬脱生理相关性的研究表明，在此种受损期间呈现的目标项目的P3 ERP成分被完全抑制。这被认为表明与目标相关的信息未到达工作记忆。为了重新评估这一假设，我们在注意瞬脱范式中比较了被检测到的目标和未被检测到的目标所诱发的ERP。18名受试者执行了一项快速序列视觉呈现（RSVP）任务，其中必须检测一个目标（对照条件）或两个目标。分别针对目标被检测到和未被检测到的试验，分析第二个目标诱发的ERP。正如预期的那样，被检测到的目标在注意瞬脱期间及之后确实诱发了P3。对于在注意瞬脱之前呈现的被检测到的目标，即在滞后1时，未发现明显的P3。相比之下，未被检测到的目标通常不会诱发P3。我们的结果提供了证据，表明在注意瞬脱期间呈现的目标可以到达工作记忆。因此，这些发现有助于评估注意瞬脱现象的理论。
