Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness

Controlled processes in human consciousness represent high-alert mental states where individuals deliberately focus their attention on achieving specific goals. Controlled processes can be seen in situations like mastering new technology, where a person might become so absorbed that they ignore surrounding distractions. Such processes involve selective attention, requiring one to concentrate on particular elements of experience while disregarding others. These are governed by executive...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Apolipoprotein E Mimetic Peptide CN-105 and Postoperative Delirium in Older Patients: The Phase 2 MARBLE Randomized Clinical Trial.

JAMA network open·2026

Same author

Faculty-student differences in authorship perceptions before and after authorship ethics interventions.

Accountability in research·2026

Same author

Developing Topics.

Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association·2025

Same author

Intervention to Promote Ethical Authorship Practices in Graduate Education.

Science and engineering ethics·2025

Same author

Associations between anaesthetic dose-adjusted intraoperative EEG alpha power, processing speed, and postoperative delirium: analysis of data from three prospective studies.

British journal of anaesthesia·2025

Same author

Electrical brain activations in preadolescents during a probabilistic reward-learning task reflect cognitive processes and behavior strategies.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task SAT for Rats

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task SAT for Rats

Published on: September 15, 2017

Transient Distraction and Attentional Control during a Sustained Selective Attention Task.

Elise Demeter¹, Marty G Woldorff¹

¹Duke University.

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

|March 12, 2016

Summary

Distracting stimuli impair target detection by reducing P3 brainwave amplitude. A right frontal negativity correlated with this distraction effect, showing attention shifts away from tasks.

More Related Videos

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Published on: August 29, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task SAT for Rats

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task SAT for Rats

Published on: September 15, 2017

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking

Published on: August 29, 2018

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neurophysiology

Background:

Environmental distractors capture attention, impacting goal-directed tasks.
Right frontal cortex is implicated in processing distractors, but timing remains unclear.
Understanding distractor timing is crucial for how they affect target processing.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the neural timing of distractor processing using EEG.
Examine how distractors affect the detection of visual targets.
Clarify the role of right frontal regions in attentional capture.

Main Methods:

Used electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs).
Presented a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream with rare targets and salient distractors.
Measured P3 component amplitude and steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs).

Main Results:

Distractors reduced target detection rates and the P3 component amplitude for missed targets.
A right-lateralized frontal negativity (100 ms) correlated negatively with behavioral impairment.
Distractors caused a transient decrease in SSVEP amplitude, indicating attentional shifts.

Conclusions:

Distractors disrupt visual attention and target detection, evidenced by reduced P3 amplitude.
Early right frontal activity reflects the processing of distractors and their behavioral impact.
Transient attention shifts away from task-relevant stimuli occur when distractors appear.