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Rapid inversion of singleton distractor representations underlies learned attentional suppression
Ziyao Zhang1, Jarrod A Lewis-Peacock1
1Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|November 24, 2025
Summary
Individuals can learn to suppress salient distractors during visual search. Neural representations of distractors transform rapidly, with later signals predicting faster search, indicating effective attentional suppression mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Attention Studies
Background:
- Humans often filter task-irrelevant stimuli in complex visual environments.
- Learned suppression of salient distractors is known, but neural mechanisms are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate temporal dynamics of distractor representations during visual search.
- Elucidate neural mechanisms of attentional suppression.
Main Methods:
- Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of electroencephalography (EEG) data.
- Examined temporal generalization of neural representations.
- Compared neural coding of target and distractor locations.
Main Results:
- Identified early (100-200 ms) and late (200-400 ms) clusters of decodable distractor representations.
- Later representations were transformed versions of early ones.
- Stronger late representations correlated with faster search, indicating suppression.
Conclusions:
- A rapid representational transformation underlies salient distractor suppression.
- Top-down control likely inverts distractor signals for suppression.
- Findings reveal neural basis for filtering irrelevant visual information.
