The N1 effect of temporal attention is independent of sound location and intensity: Implications for possible mechanisms of temporal attention

Abstract

It has been repeatedly shown that the auditory N1 is enhanced for sounds presented at an attended time point. The present study investigated the underlying mechanisms using a temporal cuing paradigm. In each trial, an auditory cue indicated at which time point a second sound could be relevant for response selection. Crucially, in addition to temporal attention, two physical sound features with known effects on the sensory N1 were manipulated: location and intensity. Positive evidence for conjoint effects of attention and location or attention and intensity would corroborate the notion that the sensory N1 was modulated by temporal attention, thus supporting a gain mechanism. However, the N1 effect of temporal attention was not similarly lateralized as the sensory N1, and, moreover, it was independent of sound intensity. Thus, the present results do not provide compelling evidence that temporal attention involves an increase in sensory gain. © 2012 Society for Psychophysiological Research.