Attentional Capture by Real-life Episodic Information

Attention facilitates the allocation of processing resources and the control of behavior among competing stimuli. Current research focuses primarily on attention control networks in the dorsal frontoparietal (DAN) and ventral (VAN) cortex. However, typical laboratory experiments emphasize task-specific processing, neglecting the possible role of memory. Although a few studies have examined the contribution of memory to attention control, they have generally used simple tasks in the laboratory. These tasks are unlikely to produce true traces of episodic memory, which are - by definition - characterized by complex contextual information (what, where, when) and personal relevance. This research will therefore use an innovative protocol based on mobile phone technology to generate episodes in the participants' real lives and then measure the impact of these past personal experiences on attention allocation (by assessing eye movements) and on the activity of the DAN/VAN system (using functional imaging). The main hypothesis of the study is that knowledge acquired during everyday life contributes to the subsequent allocation of processing resources, via engagement of the DAN/VAN attention systems.