Punishment-related memory-guided attention: Neural dynamics of perceptual modulation

Remembering the outcomes of past experiences allows us to generate future expectations
and shape selection in the long-term. A growing number of studies has shown that learned
positive reward values impact spatial memory-based attentional biases on perception.
However, whether memory-driven attentional biases extend to punishment-related values
has received comparatively less attention. Here, we manipulated whether recent spatial
contextual memories became associated with successful avoidance of punishment (potential monetary loss). Behavioral and electrophysiological measures were collected from
27 participants during a subsequent memory-based attention task, in which we tested for
the effect of punishment avoidance associations. Punishment avoidance significantly
amplified effects of spatial contextual memories on visual search processes within natural
scenes. Compared to non-associated scenes, contextual memories paired with punishment
avoidance lead to faster responses to targets presented at remembered locations. Eventrelated potentials elicited by target stimuli revealed that acquired motivational value of
specific spatial locations, by virtue of their association with past avoidance of punishment,
dynamically affected neural signatures of early visual processing (indexed by larger P1 and
earlier N1 potentials) and target selection (as indicated by reduced N2pc potentials). The
present results extend our understanding of how memory, attention, and punishmentrelated mechanisms interact to optimize perceptual decision in real world environments.