Vurdah Nydia, Vidal Julie, Viarouge Arnaud
Institute of Psychology, Université Paris Cité, LaPsyDÉ, CNRS, F-75005 Paris, France.
Brain Sci. 2023 Mar 30;13(4):586. doi: 10.3390/brainsci13040586.
Numerical cognition provides an opportunity to study the underlying processes of selective attention to numerical information in the face of conflicting, non-numerical, information of different magnitudes. For instance, in the numerical Stroop paradigm, participants are asked to judge pairs of Arabic digits whose physical size can either be congruent (e.g., 3 vs. 5) or incongruent (e.g., 3 vs. 5) with numerical value. Congruency effects when deciding which of the two digits is numerically larger are thought to reflect the inhibition of the irrelevant physical size. However, few studies have investigated the impact of the salience of the irrelevant non-numerical information on these congruency effects and their neural substrates. EEG was recorded in 32 adults during a numerical Stroop task with two levels of salience (low, high) of the irrelevant size dimension. At the behavioral level, we observed larger congruency effects in the high salience condition (i.e., when the difference in size between the two digits is larger). At the neural level, at centro-parietal electrodes, we replicated previous studies showing a main effect of congruency on event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes between 280 and 370 ms post-stimulus, as well as a main effect of salience around 200 ms post-stimulus. Crucially, congruency and salience interacted both between 230 and 250 ms (P2), and between 290 and 340 ms (P3). These results provide support for separate processes underlying the increase in congruency effect, which can be attributed to higher demands in both the inhibition of the irrelevant dimension, and the attention to the relevant numerical information.
数字认知提供了一个机会，来研究在面对不同量级的冲突性非数字信息时，对数字信息进行选择性注意的潜在过程。例如，在数字斯特鲁普范式中，要求参与者判断阿拉伯数字对，这些数字对的物理大小在数值上可能是一致的（例如，3对5），也可能是不一致的（例如，3对5）。在决定两个数字中哪个在数值上更大时的一致性效应，被认为反映了对无关物理大小的抑制。然而，很少有研究调查无关非数字信息的显著性对这些一致性效应及其神经基础的影响。在一项数字斯特鲁普任务中，对32名成年人进行了脑电图记录，该任务中无关大小维度有两个显著性水平（低、高）。在行为水平上，我们观察到在高显著性条件下（即两个数字之间的大小差异更大时）有更大的一致性效应。在神经水平上，在中央顶叶电极处，我们重复了先前的研究，结果显示一致性对刺激后280至370毫秒之间的事件相关电位（ERP）振幅有主要影响，以及显著性对刺激后约200毫秒有主要影响。至关重要的是，一致性和显著性在230至250毫秒（P2）之间以及290至340毫秒（P3）之间存在相互作用。这些结果为一致性效应增加背后的不同过程提供了支持，这可以归因于对无关维度的抑制以及对相关数字信息的注意方面有更高的要求。
