Neuroelectric Correlates of Perceptual Awareness During the Auditory Attentional Blink

TL;DR

This study identifies brain activity patterns linked to auditory awareness during a task where people miss sounds due to divided attention.

Contribution

The study reveals specific neuroelectric correlates of auditory awareness during the attentional blink using pooled electrophysiological data.

Findings

Greater negativity between 150–300 ms over frontocentral areas was observed when both targets were correctly reported.

Successful detection was associated with pronounced alpha suppression before and after the second target onset.

A positive displacement peaking at 800 ms followed the early negativity in successful trials.

Abstract

Background: Perceptual awareness refers to the conscious detection and identification of a sensory event. In electrophysiological studies, it is associated with a modality-specific negative-going event-related potential, which can be observed as early as 100–300 ms after the stimulus onset. Method: In this study, we measured neuroelectric brain activity during the auditory attentional blink, comparing brain responses when participants correctly reported both the first (T1) and second (T2) targets versus when only T1 was detected, but T2 was missed. To achieve robust statistical power, we pooled data across six previously published studies for the current analyses. Result: Our results revealed that accurately reporting both T1 and T2 elicited greater negativity between 150 and 300 ms over the frontocentral and central scalp areas following T2 onset, compared to trials where T1 was detected but T2 was not. Additionally, a positive displacement, peaking around 800 ms over the central-parietal scalp area, followed the early negativity. Successful detection of both T1 and T2 was also associated with more pronounced alpha suppression, peaking at approximately 500 ms before and 800 ms after T2 onset. Conclusions: These findings suggest that neural correlates of what we refer to “auditory awareness” occur both before the stimulus sequence and soon after T2 onset. Pre-stimulus difference in alpha power may serve as an indicator of lapses in attention, with greater alpha power reflecting periods when participants are less engaged or off-task.

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