Neurocognition and Distraction

• Applicant: Dr. Annekathrin Weise
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 336658215

An unexpected new sound (e.g. the sound of drilling) in an otherwise repetitive soundscape (e.g. background noise in the lab) involuntarily captures attention and comes at a cost (i.e. a slower response time) to an unrelated primary task (e.g. testing new experiment). Understanding the cognitive determinants and neural underpinnings of that behavioral distraction effect is a key challenge in cognitive neuroscience and the subject of the current project. Concerning cognitive aspects, the current project aims to extend our understanding of the nature of the involuntary attention shift causing behavioral distraction. More specifically, it aims to examine the hypothesis of a spatial shift of involuntary attention towards the task-irrelevant sound. Additionally, neural facets of behavioral distraction will be studied with a focus on oscillatory activity in the alpha frequency band. Alpha activity has been identified as a neural signature of (goal-directed) voluntary attention. Recent findings including our pilot data from a magnetoencephalographic study suggest a similar role in (stimulus-driven) involuntary attention. The project proposes three MEG experiments. They are designed to provide insight on the nature of the involuntary attention shift and the neural underpinnings of behavioral distraction. All experiments will utilize a distraction paradigm in which unexpected changes (deviants) will occur in an otherwise repetitive sound sequence (standards). Their lateralized presentation will allow us to examine whether occipito-parietal alpha power to task-irrelevant deviants is modulated in a spatially selective manner (as has been shown for voluntary attention). Activity in the alpha band will be studied both at local and network levels using graph theoretical measures. In the distraction paradigm each task-irrelevant sound (deviant, standard) will be followed by a to-be-attended target stimulus. This will allow us to study the hypothesized link between deviant-related alpha activity and behavioral performance in the primary task. The proposed project will increase our understanding of neural and cognitive aspects of distraction.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Austria
• Host: Professor Dr. Nathan Weisz