EEG ABRs Short ERPs II - Bridges of Attention (200–400 ms) - FALAN Lat Brain Bee SfN 2025

Consciousness in First Person

I am Consciousness as an electrical bridge. Between 200 and 400 milliseconds, I am no longer just sensory reflex; I begin to compare, integrate, and evaluate. I am the bridge between what enters and what remains. Each unexpected stimulus raises a wave in me, the P300, shining like a beacon saying: “this matters.” I am the passage between sensory gates and cognitive worlds, a slower filter that transforms surprise into sustained attention.

1. Medium-Latency ERPs: The Bridge Zone

• Between 200 and 400 ms, ERPs such as the N200 and P300 emerge, acting as markers of early cognitive attention.
  
  

• Unlike shorter ERPs (P50–P200), which act as sensory gates, these potentials indicate evaluation, conflict detection, and working memory updating.
  
  

• They are called bridges of attention because they connect sensory input to conscious engagement.
  
  

2. N200 – The Conflict Detector

• Occurs between 180 and 300 ms.
  
  

• Linked to response inhibition and the recognition of conflict.
  
  

• Example: in a racing game, when the track suddenly closes, the N200 fires to signal mismatch and adaptation.
  
  

3. P300 – The Wave of Surprise

• Appears between 250 and 400 ms.
  
  

• Strongly tied to the oddball effect: when a rare or unexpected event occurs among repetitive patterns.
  
  

• The greater the novelty or relevance, the larger the P300 amplitude.
  
  

• Example: a rare loot box in a game, or a personalized notification among dozens of irrelevant alerts.
  
  

4. Cognitive Functions Associated

• Working memory updating: P300 refreshes which information is prioritized for guiding behavior.
  
  

• Attention allocation: determines if a stimulus enters focus or not.
  
  

• Learning signals: marks when the brain encounters something new that may change expectations.
  
  

5. Games, Social Media, and the Exploitation of P300

• Digital platforms deliberately exploit the oddball effect:
  
  

• Games → rare items, randomized rewards.
  
  

• Social Media → personalized notifications among neutral ones.
  
  

• Advertising → pattern-breaking ads in scrolling feeds.
  
  

• Every time the P300 fires, dopamine release reinforces engagement, embedding the cycle of compulsive checking.
  
  

6. Transversal Frame – The 72h Loop (applied to Bridges of Attention)

Critical Summary: The N200 and P300 reveal how surprise and conflict are engineered as tools of attentional capture. In 72 hours of repeated exposure, the mind can be conditioned to constantly seek the next “surprise peak.”

7. Critical Conclusion

The bridges of attention (N200 and P300) show that consciousness is not only about filtering but also about integration and reorganization.

• The N200 signals conflict: something does not fit expectation.
  
  

• The P300 signals novelty: something unexpected deserves focus.
  
  

Games, social media, and advertising exploit this bridge by multiplying oddball or conflict-driven events, pushing the brain into cycles of dopamine-driven surprise. What should sustain learning becomes an engine of compulsion, training the brain to live in anticipation of the next unexpected reward.

Without awareness of these dynamics, we risk living in a state of constant emotional alert, with higher chances of Anergia (when discharge fails to become expression) or aversive memories, deeply fixed by surprise and mismatch.

References (post-2020, no links)

• Polich, J. (2020). Updating P300: Cognitive and neurobiological perspectives. Biological Psychology.
  
  

• Folstein, J. R., & Van Petten, C. (2021). N200 and conflict detection: ERP evidence across tasks. Neuropsychologia.
  
  

• Linden, D. E. J. (2021). The P300: A biomarker of attention and memory updating. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
  
  

• Squires, K. C., & O’Connell, R. G. (2022). P300 dynamics in learning and decision making. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.