Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149, Münster, Germany.
Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 16;13(1):4342. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31132-7.
While perceptual load has been proposed to reduce the processing of task-unrelated stimuli, theoretical arguments and empirical findings for other forms of task load are inconclusive. Here, we systematically investigated the detection and neural processing of auditory stimuli varying in stimulus intensity during a stimuli-unrelated visual working memory task alternating between low and high load. We found, depending on stimulus strength, decreased stimulus detection and reduced P3, but unaffected N1 amplitudes of the event-related potential to auditory stimuli under high as compared to low load. In contrast, load independent awareness effects were observed during both early (N1) and late (P3) time windows. Findings suggest a late neural effect of visual working memory load on auditory stimuli leading to lower probability of reported awareness of these stimuli.
虽然有人提出知觉负载可以减少对与任务无关刺激的处理，但对于其他形式的任务负载的理论论据和实证发现尚无定论。在这里，我们系统地研究了在低和高负载之间交替的与刺激无关的视觉工作记忆任务期间，听觉刺激的刺激强度变化时的听觉刺激的检测和神经处理。我们发现，根据刺激强度的不同，与低负载相比，高负载下听觉刺激的检测减少，事件相关电位的 P3 减小，但 N1 幅度不受影响。相比之下，在早期（N1）和晚期（P3）时间窗口中都观察到了与负载无关的意识效应。研究结果表明，视觉工作记忆负载对听觉刺激的后期神经效应导致报告对这些刺激的意识的可能性降低。
