Impaired selection of a previously ignored singleton: Evidence for salience map plastic changes

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Visual attention

Background:

• Statistical learning allows for the suppression of salient color distractors, reducing unwanted attentional capture.
• However, this distractor suppression leads to impaired target selection at the previously most likely distractor location.
• This impairment suggests inhibitory signals are applied to the priority map at the distractor's location.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether persistent impairment in target selection, after distractor removal, results from sustained inhibitory signals or plastic changes in the priority map.
• To differentiate between proactive strategic maintenance of suppression and long-lasting alterations in the priority map's input weights.

Main Methods:

• Participants were trained to identify targets while a salient color distractor was present.
• A subsequent test phase involved presenting the previously suppressed distractor location as the target.
• Target selection efficiency was measured at the previously most likely distractor location.

Main Results:

• Impairment in target selection persisted even when the former distractor location became the target.
• This finding rules out the possibility of sustained inhibitory signal maintenance as the sole cause of impairment.
• Results indicate that inhibitory signals induce long-lasting plastic changes in the priority map.

Conclusions:

• Inhibitory signals induced by distractor suppression lead to enduring changes in the priority map.
• These plastic changes alter future target salience computations at the affected location.
• This impacts the overall efficiency of attentional selection.