Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant

Abstract
Data availability
Article and author information
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Abstract

Conflict detection in sensory input is central to adaptive human behavior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, past research has shown that conflict may even be detected in absence of conflict awareness, suggesting that conflict detection is an automatic process that does not require attention. To test the possibility of conflict processing in the absence of attention, we manipulated task relevance and response overlap of potentially conflicting stimulus features across six behavioral tasks. Multivariate analyses on human electroencephalographic data revealed neural signatures of conflict only when at least one feature of a conflicting stimulus was attended, regardless of whether that feature was part of the conflict, or overlaps with the response. In contrast, neural signatures of basic sensory processes were present even when a stimulus was completely unattended. These data reveal an attentional bottleneck at the level of objects, suggesting that object-based attention is a prerequisite for cognitive control operations involved in conflict detection.

Data availability

The data and analysis scripts used in this article is available on Figshare https://uvaauas.figshare.com/projects/Preserved_sensory_processing_but_hampered_conflict_detection_when_stimulus_input_is_task-irrelevant/115020

The following data sets were generated

(2021) Analyses scripts for manuscript: Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant
Figshare, https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730297.v1.

https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730297.v1
(2021) Raw behavioral dataset for manuscript: Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant
Figshare, https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730396.v1.

https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730396.v1
(2021) Decoded EEG (time-frequency) dataset for manuscript: Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant
Figshare, https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730402.v1.

https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730402.v1
(2021) Decoded EEG (time-domain) dataset for manuscript: Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant
Figshare, https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14754870.v1.

https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14754870.v1
(2021) Raw EEG dataset for manuscript: Preserved sensory processing but hampered conflict detection when stimulus input is task-irrelevant
Figshare, https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14709420.v1.

https://doi.org/10.21942/uva.14730297.v1

Article and author information

Author details

Stijn Adriaan Nuiten

Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

For correspondence
stijnnuiten@gmail.com

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9248-166X
Andres Canales-Johnson

Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Lola Beerendonk

Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Nutsa Nanuashvili

Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Johannes Jacobus Fahrenfort

Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9025-3436
Tristan Bekinschtein

Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Simon van Gaal

Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

For correspondence
simonvangaal@gmail.com

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

H2020 European Research Council (ERC-2016-STG_715605)

Simon van Gaal

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Human subjects: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants after explanation of the experimental protocol. This study was approved by the local ethics committee of the University of Amsterdam (projects: 2015-BC-4687, 2017-BC-8257, 2019-BC-10711).

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.