Dynamics of target and distractor processing in visual search: Evidence from event-related brain potentials

► We examined the temporal dynamics of attentional selection in visual search. ► Lateralized ERPs evoked by targets and distractors were recorded. ► Targets and salient distractors elicit an N2pc component indexing initial selection. ► Only salient distractors elicited a Ptc component indexing distractor suppression. ► Only targets elicited an SPCN component indexing short-term memory representation.