The beneficial effects of sounds on attentional blink performance: An ERP study

Auditory information can affect the processing of visual information. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to characterize the temporal dynamics of this interaction in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task that created an attentional blink (AB), that is, a profound deficit in detecting or identifying the second of two visual targets embedded in an RSVP stream. When a sound preceded the second target, T2, by 250 ms or was played simultaneously with T2, T2 identification accuracy increased to a comparable degree. Sound-related modulations of the visual response to T2 emerged from around 140 ms when the sound preceded T2, and from around 100 ms when the sound was played simultaneously with T2. Timing and topography of this earliest modulation indicated that it is not related to early sensory areas, but suggest an attentional filter mechanism. Subsequent modulations are compatible with an improvement of early visual processing of T2 and of processes related to target selection both when the sound precedes and when it coincides with T2. For the latter condition our results also indicated processes related to a convergence of stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention. We also observed some overlap between neural correlates of sound-related modulations of the visual response and of correct vs. incorrect performance. Thus, external task manipulations and internal factors contributing to performance in the AB may rely on overlapping though not identical mechanisms.