A multilab investigation into the N2pc as an indicator of attentional selectivity: Direct replication of Eimer (1996)

The N2pc is widely employed as an electrophysiological marker of an attention allocation. This interpretation was largely driven by the observation of an N2pc elicited by an isolated relevant target object, which was reported as Experiment 2 in Eimer (1996). All subsequent refined interpretations of the N2pc had to take this crucial finding into account. Despite its central role for neurocognitive attention research, there have been no direct replications and only few conceptual replications of this seminal work. Within the context of #EEGManyLabs, an international community-driven effort to replicate the most influential EEG studies ever published, the present study was selected due to its strong impact on the study of selective attention. We revisit the idea of the N2pc being an indicator of attentional selectivity by delivering a high powered direct replication of Eimer's work through analysis of 779 datasets acquired from 22 labs across 14 countries. Our results robustly replicate the N2pc to form stimuli, but a direct replication of the N2pc to color stimuli technically failed. We believe that this pattern not only sheds further light on the functional significance of the N2pc as an electrophysiological marker of attentional selectivity, but also highlights a methodological problem with selecting analysis windows a priori. By contrast, the consistency of observed ERP patterns across labs and analysis pipelines is stunning, and this consistency is preserved even in datasets that were rejected for (ocular) artifacts, attesting to the robustness of the ERP technique and the feasibility of large-scale multilab EEG (replication) studies.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Cortex
Published
2025-06-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.014
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.86

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

A multilab investigation into the N2pc as an indicator of attentional selectivity: Direct replication of Eimer (1996)

Raquel E. London, Ilona Kotlewska, Efe Soyman, Emre Yılmaz et al.
2 citations
Cortex
Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
2.86
article

A multilab investigation into the N2pc as an indicator of attentional selectivity: Direct replication of Eimer (1996)

Raquel E. London, Ilona Kotlewska, Efe Soyman, Emre Yılmaz, Martin Constant, Yuri G. Pavlov, Leonardo Chelazzi, Bernhard Pastötter, Bianca Monachesi, Heinrich R. Liesefeld, Antonio Vázquez-Millán, Paul Michael Corballis, Ahu Gökçe, Greta Manini, Andrea Desantis, Elisa Martín‐Arévalo, Dirk Kerzel, Degao Li, Roxane J. Itier, Bence Szaszkó, Joshua O. Eayrs, M. Concepción Castellanos, Nicole Wetzel, Dariusz Asanowicz, Sara Molinero, Bartłomiej Panek, Helge Gillmeister, Christian Frings, Motonori Yamaguchi, Melissa R. Beck, Mariagrazia Capizzi, Faisal Mushtaq, Siri‐Maria Kamp, Luisa Knopf, Eleonora Borelli, Dominik Welke, David Luque, Liyu Cao, Demet Özer, Andreas Widmann, Johannes Meixner, Matthias Kliegel, Tabitha Steendam, Gianvito Laera, Pamela Baess, Hanane Ramzaoui, Francesca Pesciarelli, Bertille Somon, Ananya Mandal, Alicja Nowacka, André Botes, Thiago Leiros Costa, Kerstin Jost, Shabnamalsadat Ayatollahi, Xueqi Low, Carley Ann Braddock, Marlo Quenault, Daniele Scanzi, Tamar Torrance, Gustavo A. León Montoya
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The N2pc is widely employed as an electrophysiological marker of an attention allocation. This interpretation was largely driven by the observation of an N2pc elicited by an isolated relevant target object, which was reported as Experiment 2 in Eimer (1996). All subsequent refined interpretations of the N2pc had to take this crucial finding into account. Despite its central role for neurocognitive attention research, there have been no direct replications and only few conceptual replications of this seminal work. Within the context of #EEGManyLabs, an international community-driven effort to replicate the most influential EEG studies ever published, the present study was selected due to its strong impact on the study of selective attention. We revisit the idea of the N2pc being an indicator of attentional selectivity by delivering a high powered direct replication of Eimer's work through analysis of 779 datasets acquired from 22 labs across 14 countries. Our results robustly replicate the N2pc to form stimuli, but a direct replication of the N2pc to color stimuli technically failed. We believe that this pattern not only sheds further light on the functional significance of the N2pc as an electrophysiological marker of attentional selectivity, but also highlights a methodological problem with selecting analysis windows a priori. By contrast, the consistency of observed ERP patterns across labs and analysis pipelines is stunning, and this consistency is preserved even in datasets that were rejected for (ocular) artifacts, attesting to the robustness of the ERP technique and the feasibility of large-scale multilab EEG (replication) studies.

CortexVol. 190
University of Essex (GB), University of Geneva (CH), University of Verona (IT), Louisiana State University (US), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT), Jagiellonian University (PL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Leeds (GB), Kadir Has University (TR), Koç University (TR), Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (IT), University of Waterloo (CA), University of Auckland (NZ), University of Hildesheim (DE), Universidad de Granada (ES), University of Bremen (DE), Université Paris Cité (FR), Ghent University (BE), Institute of Psychology (PL), Zhejiang Lab (CN), Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (FR), Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane (DE), Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (DE), Liverpool John Moores University (GB), Zhejiang University (CN), Medical University of Vienna (AT), University of Tübingen (DE), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), Universidad de Málaga (ES), Universität Trier (DE), Leipzig University (DE)
National Science Foundation, Uniwersytet Jagielloński Collegium Medicum, University of Essex, UK Research and Innovation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Health and Social Care, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Narodowym Centrum Nauki, Brandenburger Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Junta de Andalucía, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds Biomedical Research Centre
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
2.86
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.