Lui Troby Ka-Yan, Obleser Jonas, Wöstmann Malte
Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Eur J Neurosci. 2025 Jan;61(2):e70005. doi: 10.1111/ejn.70005.
Distraction is ubiquitous in human environments. Distracting input is often predictable, but we do not understand when or how humans can exploit this predictability. Here, we ask whether predictable distractors are able to reduce uncertainty in updating the internal predictive model. We show that utilising a predictable distractor identity is not fully automatic but in part depends on available resources. In an auditory spatial n-back task, listeners (n = 33) attended to spoken numbers presented to one ear and detected repeating items. Distracting numbers presented to the other ear either followed a predictable (i.e., repetitive) sequence or were unpredictable. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to uncover neural responses to predictable versus unpredictable auditory distractors, as well as their dependence on perceptual and cognitive load. Neurally, pairs of targets and unpredictable distractors induced a sign-reversed lateralisation of pre-stimulus alpha oscillations (~10 Hz) and larger amplitude of the stimulus-evoked P2 event-related potential component. Under low versus high memory load, distractor predictability increased the magnitude of the frontal negativity component. Behaviourally, predictable distractors under low task demands (i.e., good signal-to-noise ratio and low memory load) made participants adopt a less biased response strategy. We conclude that predictable distractors decrease uncertainty and reduce the need for updating the internal predictive model. In turn, unpredictable distractors might mislead proactive spatial attention orientation, elicit larger neural responses and put higher demand on memory.
干扰在人类环境中无处不在。干扰性输入通常是可预测的，但我们并不清楚人类何时以及如何利用这种可预测性。在此，我们探讨可预测的干扰因素是否能够减少更新内部预测模型时的不确定性。我们发现，利用可预测的干扰因素身份并非完全自动进行，部分取决于可用资源。在一项听觉空间n-back任务中，听众（n = 33）专注于呈现给一只耳朵的语音数字，并检测重复的项目。呈现给另一只耳朵的干扰数字要么遵循可预测的（即重复的）序列，要么是不可预测的。我们使用脑电图（EEG）来揭示对可预测与不可预测听觉干扰因素的神经反应，以及它们对感知和认知负荷的依赖性。在神经层面，目标与不可预测的干扰因素对会诱发刺激前阿尔法振荡（约10Hz）的符号反转侧向化以及刺激诱发的P2事件相关电位成分的更大振幅。在低记忆负荷与高记忆负荷条件下，干扰因素的可预测性增加了额叶负波成分的幅度。在行为层面，低任务需求（即良好的信噪比和低记忆负荷）下的可预测干扰因素使参与者采用了偏差较小的反应策略。我们得出结论，可预测的干扰因素会降低不确定性，并减少更新内部预测模型的需求。反过来，不可预测的干扰因素可能会误导主动的空间注意力定向，引发更大的神经反应，并对记忆提出更高要求。
