In addiction a set of perceptual representation (drugs and related paraphernalia) is tagged as salient and repeatedly selected for conscious processing. Understanding the neural systems by which perceptual representations are tagged as salient might allow better understanding of how these systems are disrupted in addiction. This proposal employs dense array ERPs and statistical, topographic, and dipole analyses to study the neural systems that attach salience to perceptual representations. Detecting task-relevant stimuli may require interaction between an orbito-frontal salience evaluation system and perceptual representations in the posterior brain. There is a potential ERP index of this orbito-frontal/posterior interaction: an inferior prefrontal P2a and a coincident posterior N2b. If the P2a indexes salience evaluation it should be independent of the stimulus and response modalities. If the N2b indexes perceptual processing it should be dependent upon stimulus feature. We test this model by manipulating target-defining feature, response type, and target salience. The task manipulations present relevant and irrelevant stimuli in different tasks: Passive, Silent Count, Keypress, and Withhold Keypress. In the Passive task there is no target detection so there should be no P2a. In the Count and Withhold tasks there is detection but no motor response; in the Keypress task there is both detection and a motor response. Since the perceptual and salience processing demands are equivalent we predict an equal P2a and N2b across active tasks. In the stimulus manipulation experiments the target-defining feature is changed. In one task subjects respond to visual stimuli occurring at a specific location while in another they respond to specific objects regardless of location. In a third task subjects respond to tones. We predict equivalent P2a's across target modalities but different topographic distributions of the N2b depending upon the salient feature. The final experiments manipulate the salience value of the stimulus. One study presents objects with no, small, or large reward value. The P2a should be larger to the more valuable stimuli with a constant N2b. The other study presents stimuli in different locations in salient and non-salient blocks. Constricted attention in the salient blocks should produce a larger P2a and N2b to foveal stimuli.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA014073-03
Application #
6634349
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZDA1-MXV-P (04))
Program Officer
Grant, Steven J
Project Start
2001-06-01
Project End
2005-11-30
Budget Start
2003-06-01
Budget End
2005-11-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$183,714
Indirect Cost
Name
Rice University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
050299031
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77005
Potts, Geoffrey F; Martin, Laura E; Kamp, Siri-Maria et al. (2011) Neural response to action and reward prediction errors: Comparing the error-related negativity to behavioral errors and the feedback-related negativity to reward prediction violations. Psychophysiology 48:218-28
Martin, Laura E; Potts, Geoffrey F; Burton, Philip C et al. (2009) Electrophysiological and hemodynamic responses to reward prediction violation. Neuroreport 20:1140-3
Martin, Laura E; Potts, Geoffrey F (2009) Impulsivity in Decision-Making: An Event-Related Potential Investigation. Pers Individ Dif 46:303
Potts, Geoffrey F; Wood, Susan M; Kothmann, Delia et al. (2008) Parallel perceptual enhancement and hierarchic relevance evaluation in an audio-visual conjunction task. Brain Res 1236:126-39
Potts, Geoffrey F; Martin, Laura E; Burton, Philip et al. (2006) When things are better or worse than expected: the medial frontal cortex and the allocation of processing resources. J Cogn Neurosci 18:1112-9
Stotts, Angela L; Potts, Geoffrey F; Ingersoll, Gina et al. (2006) Preliminary feasibility and efficacy of a brief motivational intervention with psychophysiological feedback for cocaine abuse. Subst Abus 27:9-20
Potts, Geoffrey F; George, Mary Reeni M; Martin, Laura E et al. (2006) Reduced punishment sensitivity in neural systems of behavior monitoring in impulsive individuals. Neurosci Lett 397:130-4
Martin, Laura E; Potts, Geoffrey F (2004) Reward sensitivity in impulsivity. Neuroreport 15:1519-22
Potts, Geoffrey F; Patel, Salil H; Azzam, Pierre N (2004) Impact of instructed relevance on the visual ERP. Int J Psychophysiol 52:197-209
Nagy, Emese; Potts, Geoffrey F; Loveland, Katherine A (2003) Sex-related ERP differences in deviance detection. Int J Psychophysiol 48:285-92