Fatigue in children using motor imagery and P300 brain-computer interfaces.

BACKGROUND: Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology offers children with quadriplegic cerebral palsy unique opportunities for communication, environmental exploration, learning, and game play. Research in adults demonstrates a negative impact of fatigue on BCI enjoyment, while effects on BCI performance are variable. To date, there have been no pediatric studies of BCI fatigue. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of two different BCI paradigms, motor imagery and visual P300, on the development of self-reported fatigue and an electroencephalography (EEG) biomarker of fatigue in typically developing children. METHODS: Thirty-seven typically-developing school-aged children were recruited to a prospective, crossover study. Participants attended three sessions: (A) motor imagery-BCI, (B) visual P300-BCI, and (C) video viewing (control). The motor imagery task involved an imagined left- or right-hand squeeze. The P300 task involved attending to one square on a 3 × 3 grid during a random single flash sequence. Each paradigm had respective calibration periods and a similar visual counting game. Primary outcomes were self-reported fatigue and the power of the EEG alpha band both collected during resting-state periods pre- and post-task. Self-reported fatigue was measured using a 10-point visual analog scale. EEG alpha band power was calculated as the integrated power spectral density from 8 to 12 Hz of the EEG spectrum. RESULTS: Thirty-two children completed the protocol (age range 7-16, 63% female). Self-reported fatigue and EEG alpha band power increased across all sessions (F(1,155) = 33.9, p < 0.001; F = 5.0(1,149), p = 0.027 respectively). No differences in fatigue development were observed between session types. There was no correlation between self-reported fatigue and EEG alpha band power change. BCI performance varied between participants and paradigms as expected but was not associated with self-reported fatigue or EEG alpha band power. CONCLUSION: Short periods (30-mintues) of BCI use can increase self-reported fatigue and EEG alpha band power to a similar degree in children performing motor imagery and P300 BCI paradigms. Performance was not associated with our measures of fatigue; the impact of fatigue on useability and enjoyment is unclear. Our results reflect the variability of fatigue and the BCI experience more broadly in children and warrant further investigation.

Classification of Targets and Distractors in an Audiovisual Attention Task Based on Electroencephalography.

Within the broader context of improving interactions between artificial intelligence and humans, the question has arisen regarding whether auditory and rhythmic support could increase attention for visual stimuli that do not stand out clearly from an information stream. To this end, we designed an experiment inspired by pip-and-pop but more appropriate for eliciting attention and P3a-event-related potentials (ERPs). In this study, the aim was to distinguish between targets and distractors based on the subject's electroencephalography (EEG) data. We achieved this objective by employing different machine learning (ML) methods for both individual-subject (IS) and cross-subject (CS) models. Finally, we investigated which EEG channels and time points were used by the model to make its predictions using saliency maps. We were able to successfully perform the aforementioned classification task for both the IS and CS scenarios, reaching classification accuracies up to 76%. In accordance with the literature, the model primarily used the parietal-occipital electrodes between 200 ms and 300 ms after the stimulus to make its prediction. The findings from this research contribute to the development of more effective P300-based brain-computer interfaces. Furthermore, they validate the EEG data collected in our experiment.

Auditory event-related potentials, neurocognition, and global functioning in drug naïve first-episode schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Deficits in event-related potential (ERP) including duration mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a have been demonstrated widely in chronic schizophrenia (SZ) but inconsistent findings were reported in first-episode patients. Psychotropic medications and diagnosis might contribute to different findings on MMN/P3a ERP in first-episode patients. The present study examined MMN and P3a in first episode drug naïve SZ and bipolar disorder (BPD) patients and explored the relationships among ERPs, neurocognition and global functioning. METHODS: Twenty SZ, 24 BPD and 49 age and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Data of clinical symptoms [Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Young Manic Rating Scale (YMRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD)], neurocognition [Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CCFT), Delay Matching to Sample (DMS), Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP)], and functioning [Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST)] were collected. P3a and MMN were elicited using a passive auditory oddball paradigm. RESULTS: Significant MMN and P3a deficits and impaired neurocognition were found in both SZ and BPD patients. In SZ, MMN was significantly correlated with FAST (r = 0.48) and CCFT (r = -0.31). In BPD, MMN was significantly correlated with DMS (r = -0.54). For P3a, RVP and FAST scores were significant predictors in SZ, whereas RVP, WAIS and FAST were significant predictors in BPD. CONCLUSIONS: The present study found deficits in MMN, P3a, neurocognition in drug naïve SZ and BPD patients. These deficits appeared to link with levels of higher-order cognition and functioning.

MMN and P3a Elicited by a Novelty Oddball Paradigm Are Not Reduced in Early-Phase Psychosis.

INTRODUCTION: The present study compared the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a waveforms among early-phase psychosis (EPP; n = 13) individuals and healthy controls (n = 30) to contribute to the research on these waveforms as potential biomarkers for schizophrenia. METHODS: MMN and P3a were elicited with a novelty paradigm using complex stimuli with electrophysiological technology. RESULTS: No significant group differences of amplitude were observed with either waveform. Increased asociality and blunted affect were associated with a reduction in both MMN and P3a waveforms indicating a relationship between these negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. Good social and occupational functioning correlated with improved MMN and P3a waveforms in the EPP group. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that MMN and P3a may be more appropriately used as an indicator of illness progression and symptomology rather than a biomarker in the early phase of the illness.

Simultaneous multiple-stimulus auditory brain-computer interface with semi-supervised learning and prior probability distribution tuning.

Objective.Auditory brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) enable users to select commands based on the brain activity elicited by auditory stimuli. However, existing auditory BCI paradigms cannot increase the number of available commands without decreasing the selection speed, because each stimulus needs to be presented independently and sequentially under the standard oddball paradigm. To solve this problem, we propose a double-stimulus paradigm that simultaneously presents multiple auditory stimuli.Approach.For addition to an existing auditory BCI paradigm, the best discriminable sound was chosen following a subjective assessment. The new sound was located on the right-hand side and presented simultaneously with an existing sound from the left-hand side. A total of six sounds were used for implementing the auditory BCI with a 6 × 6 letter matrix. We employ semi-supervised learning (SSL) and prior probability distribution tuning to improve the accuracy of the paradigm. The SSL method involved updating of the classifier weights, and their prior probability distributions were adjusted using the following three types of distributions: uniform, empirical, and extended empirical (e-empirical). The performance was evaluated based on the BCI accuracy and information transfer rate (ITR).Main results.The double-stimulus paradigm resulted in a BCI accuracy of 67.89 ± 11.46% and an ITR of 2.67 ± 1.09 bits min-1, in the absence of SSL and with uniform distribution. The proposed combination of SSL with e-empirical distribution improved the BCI accuracy and ITR to 74.59 ± 12.12% and 3.37 ± 1.27 bits min-1, respectively. The event-related potential analysis revealed that contralateral and right-hemispheric dominances contributed to the BCI performance improvement.Significance.Our study demonstrated that a BCI based on multiple simultaneous auditory stimuli, incorporating SSL and e-empirical prior distribution, can increase the number of commands without sacrificing typing speed beyond the acceptable level of accuracy.

Effects of the concentration level, eye fatigue and coffee consumption on the performance of a BCI system based on visual ERP-P300.

BACKGROUND: A widely used paradigm for Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) is based on detecting P300 Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) in response to stimulation and concentration tasks. An open challenge corresponds to maximizing the performance of a BCI by considering artifacts arising from the user's cognitive and physical conditions during task execution. NEW METHOD: In this study, an analysis of the performance of a visual BCI-P300 system was performed under the metrics of Sensitivity (Sen), Specificity (Spe), Accuracy (Acc), and Area-Under the ROC Curve (AUC), considering the main reported factors affecting the neurophysiological behavior of the P300 signal: Concentration Level, Eye Fatigue, and Coffee Consumption. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: We compared the performance of three P300 signal detection methods (MA-LDA, CCA-RLR, and MA+CCA-RLR) using a public database (GigaScience) in different groups. Data were segmented according to three factors of interest: high and low levels of concentration, high and low eye fatigue, and coffee consumption at different times. RESULTS: The results showed a significant improvement between 3% and 6% for the metrics evaluated for identifying the P300 signal in relation to concentration levels and coffee consumption. CONCLUSION: P300 signal can be influenced by physical and mental factors during the execution of ERPs evocation tasks, which could be controlled to maximize the interface's capacity to detect the individual's intention.

Event-related potentials and use of psychotropic medication in major psychiatric disorders.

BACKGROUND: Attention deficits measured using event-related potentials (ERPs) have been frequently reported in several major psychiatric disorders, e.g. mood disorder (MD), psychotic disorder (PD) and substance use disorder (SUD). However, comparisons between these specific categories are lacking. Here we investigated if electrophysiological parameters of basic information processing are associated with the above-mentioned categories of psychiatric disorders, or instead were associated with general psychopathology. METHODS: 579 subjects with MD, PD or SUD and healthy controls (HC) were included. Participants were tested in a passive auditory and an active visual oddball paradigm to assess mismatch negativity (MMN), P3A and P3B amplitudes. Additionally, we examined associations between these measures and psychoactive medication treatments. RESULTS: All patients had significantly lower P3B amplitudes compared to healthy controls, while only SUD patients had lower P3A amplitudes than MD, PD and HC. PD patients also produced significantly less MMN than both MD and SUD patients. Additionally, we found significantly higher P3B amplitude in HC compared to patients without psychopharmacological treatment and patients treated with two or more psychoactive compounds (polypharmacy), but no significant associations with medication on P3A and MMN amplitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results add to the theory that P3B deficits are associated with general psychopathology, whereas P3A and MMN deficits appear to be associated with substance abuse and psychotic disorders respectively.

Temporal and time-frequency features of auditory oddball response in distinct subtypes of patients at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis exhibit a reduced P300 oddball response, which indicates deficits in attention and working memory processes. Previous studies have mainly researched these responses in the temporal domain; hence, non-phase-locked or induced neural activities may have been ignored. Event-related potential (ERP) and time-frequency (TF) information, combined with clinical and cognitive profiles, may provide an insight into the pathophysiology and psychopathology of the CHR stage. The 104 CHR individuals who completed cognitive assessments and ERP tests were recruited and followed up between 2016 and 2018. Individuals with CHR were classified by three clinical subtypes demonstrated before, specifically 32 from Cluster-1 (characterized by extensive negative symptoms and cognitive deficits, at the highest risk for conversion to psychosis), 34 from Cluster-2 (characterized by thought and behavioral disorganization, with moderate cognitive impairment), and 38 from Cluster-3 (characterized by the mildest symptoms and cognitive deficits). Electroencephalograms were recorded during the auditory oddball paradigm. The P300 ERPs were analyzed in the temporal domain. The event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial coherence (ITC) were acquired by TF analysis. A reduced P300 response to target tones was noted in Cluster-1 relative to the other two clusters. Moreover, the P300 amplitude of Cluster-1 was associated with speed of processing (SoP) scores. Furthermore, the P300 amplitude of Cluster-3 was significantly correlated with verbal and visual learning scores. In the TF analysis, decreased delta ERSP and ITC were observed in Cluster-1; delta ITC was associated with SoP scores in Cluster-3. The results indicate relatively disrupted oddball responses in a certain CHR subtype and a close affinity between these electrophysiological indexes and attention, working memory, and declarative memory within different CHR clusters. These findings suggest that the auditory oddball response is a potential neurophysiological marker for distinct clinical subtypes of CHR.

Internal consistency reliability of the P300 to novelty in infants: The influence of trial number and data loss due to artifacts.

The P300 is an event-related potential component that reflects attention to motivationally salient stimuli and may be a promising tool to examine individual differences in cognitive-affective processing very early in development. However, the psychometric properties of the P300 in infancy are unknown, a fact that limits the component's utility as an individual difference measure in developmental research. To address this gap, 38 infants completed an auditory three-stimulus oddball task that included frequent standard, infrequent deviant, and novel stimuli. We quantified the P300 at a single electrode site and at region of interest (ROI) and examined the internal consistency reliability of the component, both via split-half reliability and as a function of trial number. Results indicated that the P300 to standard, deviant, and novel stimuli fell within moderate to high internal consistency reliability thresholds, and that scoring the component at an ROI led to slightly higher estimates of reliability. However, the percentage of data loss due to artifacts increased across the course of the task, suggesting that including more trials will not necessarily improve the reliability of the P300. Together, these results suggest that robust and reliable measurement of the P300 will require designing tasks that minimize trial number and maximize infant tolerability.

N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonism modulates P300 event-related potentials and associated activity in salience and central executive networks.

Impairments in auditory information processing in schizophrenia as indexed electrophysiologically by P300 deficits during novelty (P3a) and target (P3b) processing are linked to N -methyl- D -aspartate receptor (NMDAR) dysfunction. This study in 14 healthy volunteers examined the effects of a subanesthetic dose of the NMDAR antagonist ketamine on P300 and their relationship to psychomimetic symptoms and cortical source activity (with eLORETA). Ketamine reduced early (e- P3a) and late (l-P3a) novelty P300 at sensor (scalp)-level and at source-level in the salience network. Increases in dissociation symptoms were negatively correlated with ketamine-induced P3b changes, at sensor-level and source-level, in both salience and central executive networks. These P3a alterations during novelty processing, and the symptom-related P3b changes during target processing support a model of NMDAR hypofunction underlying disrupted auditory attention in schizophrenia.

Dopaminergic modulation of novelty repetition in Parkinson's disease: A study of P3 event-related brain potentials.

OBJECTIVE: Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Cognitive impairments have been reported using the event-related potential (ERP) technique. Patients show reduced novelty P3 (nP3) amplitudes in oddball experiments, a response to infrequent, surprising stimuli, linked to the orienting response of the brain. The nP3 is thought to depend on dopaminergic neuronal pathways though the effect of dopaminergic medication in PD has not yet been investigated. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with PD were examined "on" and "off" their regular dopaminergic medication in a novelty 3-stimulus-oddball task. Thirty-four healthy controls were also examined over two sessions, but received no medication. P3 amplitudes were compared throughout experimental conditions. RESULTS: All participants showed sizeable novelty difference ERP effects, i.e. ndP3 amplitudes, during both testing sessions. An interaction of diagnosis, medication and testing order was also found, indicating that dopaminergic medication modulated ndP3 in patients with PD across the two testing sessions: We observed enhanced ndP3 amplitudes from PD patients who were off medication on the second testing session. CONCLUSION: Patients with PD 'off' medication showed ERP evidence for repetition-related enhancement of novelty responses. Dopamine depletion in neuronal pathways that are affected by mid-stage PD possibly accounts for this modulation of novelty processing. SIGNIFICANCE: The data in this study potentially suggest that repetition effects on novelty processing in patients with PD are enhanced by dopaminergic depletion.

Eye blink rate increases as a function of cognitive load during an auditory oddball paradigm.

Previous evidence suggests that changes in spontaneous eye blink rate (EBR) in human adults might reflect the amount of attentional demand (i.e. cognitive load) during cognitive tasks. However, the actual direction of this relation is uncertain, since most studies investigated the role of cognitive load on EBR by employing visual tasks only. Here we aimed at elucidating the relationship between EBR and cognitive load in non-visual tasks. Sixteen healthy participants performed two auditory oddball tasks, i.e. passive listening to auditory tones versus active counting of target tones; each oddball task was immediately followed by a rest phase. Throughout the oddball tasks we assessed EBR and recorded the P300 on ERPs as an electrophysiological measure of attention. The results showed that participants' EBR increased during the active task compared to the respective rest phase. Amplitude and latency of the P300 too differed between passive and active tasks, but changes in EBR and P300 features were not correlated with each other. Our findings demonstrated that an increase in cognitive load is associated with an increase in EBR in cognitive tasks not involving visual attention. These findings are consistent with previous evidence suggesting shared neurobiological bases between attention and EBR.

Electrophysiological investigation of the effects of Tai Chi on inhibitory control in older individuals.

The possibility that improved inhibitory control in older adults is associated with engagement in non-contact sporting activity, Tai Chi, was investigated. Three groups of participants were compared; a group who regularly took part in Tai Chi (TC), a regularly exercising (RE) group, and a sedentary group (SG). Concurrent electroencephalographic recordings were obtained while a stop-signal inhibitory control task, where speeded responses are needed for most trials, but these must occasionally be withheld when a 'stop signal' is displayed, was performed. The electrophysiological components P3, broadly related to decision making, and Pe, related to error monitoring, were analyzed. Both exercise groups performed better on the stop-signal task for the measure indicative of inhibitory control, as well as being generally better for other indices of performance. No significant effects were seen for post-error slowing. Electrophysiological differences were seen for the TC group, with a significantly larger P3 component related to the stop-signal and a larger Pe component when errors were made. This indicated that the TC group seemed to show better decision making and have better awareness of errors. Future work should investigate whether such effects are seen when this type of exercise is applied as an 'intervention' in non-exercising individuals.

Meditation alters representations of peripersonal space: Evidence from auditory evoked potentials.

Meditation commonly gives rise to the feeling that the self and the surrounding world are no longer separate, as if the boundary between them has dissolved. We propose this may occur due to alterations in representations of peripersonal space (PPS), the reachable space surrounding the body which is integral to a sense of where one's bodily "self" is located in space. Thirty-one participants completed an auditory oddball paradigm before and after a guided meditation, during which we measured their P3 evoked potential, a marker of attentional salience. Pre-meditation, participants exhibited an enhanced attentional response to stimuli presented within PPS, relative to beyond PPS. Post-meditation, this PPS attentional enhancement was negated, with no distinction between responses to stimuli within versus beyond PPS. The results suggest that meditation leads to a constriction of PPS boundaries, even in novice meditators, elucidating one potential cause of the perceptual changes associated with meditation.

Stimulus modality influences session-to-session transfer of training effects in auditory and tactile streaming-based P300 brain-computer interfaces.

Despite recent successes, patients suffering from locked-in syndrome (LIS) still struggle to communicate using vision-independent brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). In this study, we compared auditory and tactile BCIs, regarding training effects and cross-stimulus-modality transfer effects, when switching between stimulus modalities. We utilized a streaming-based P300 BCI, which was developed as a low workload approach to prevent potential BCI-inefficiency. We randomly assigned 20 healthy participants to two groups. The participants received three sessions of training either using an auditory BCI or using a tactile BCI. In an additional fourth session, BCI versions were switched to explore possible cross-stimulus-modality transfer effects. Both BCI versions could be operated successfully in the first session by the majority of the participants, with the tactile BCI being experienced as more intuitive. Significant training effects were found mostly in the auditory BCI group and strong evidence for a cross-stimulus-modality transfer occurred for the auditory training group that switched to the tactile version but not vice versa. All participants were able to control at least one BCI version, suggesting that the investigated paradigms are generally feasible and merit further research into their applicability with LIS end-users. Individual preferences regarding stimulus modality should be considered.

The preattentive change detection in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a mismatch negativity study.

To investigate the preattentive change detection in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we compared the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a of event-related potentials (ERPs) between preschool ADHD and normal children using three-stimulus oddball paradigm. Analyzing MMN and P3a components, we found that MMN elicited by deviants and P3a elicited by novelty were significantly reduced in patients than in controls. In addition, the P3a amplitude was positive correlated to IQ and negatively correlated to hyperactivity, antagonistic defiance and conduct problems in Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham IV Rating Scale, parent version. These data provided new neurophysiological evidence for the dysfunction of preattentive change detection and attentional shift in ADHD children.

Long-term effect of middle ear disease on temporal processing and P300 in two different populations of children.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The effects of otitis media on the function of the central auditory nervous system in different populations is unknown. Understanding how the history of otitis media affects children from different nations will guide health professionals worldwide on the importance of adequate auditory stimulus in childhood. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to investigate the long-term auditory effects of middle ear disease on temporal processing and P300 in two different populations of children: Australian and Brazilian. METHODS: Temporal processing tests (Frequency Pattern Tests-FPT and Gaps in noise-GIN) and P300 were measured in 68 Brazilian and Australian children, aged between 8 to 14 years. The Brazilian otitis media group (BrOM) and Australian otitis media group (AusOM) consisted of 20 children each who had a documented history of otitis media. Control groups of 14 children (BrControl and AusControl) were also recruited from each country, all with no documented history of otitis media. RESULTS: The BrOM group showed significantly poorer performance (p<0.001) for FPT and the GIN compared to BrControl. The P300 response showed significantly longer mean latencies (p = 0.02) compared to BrControls. The AusOM group also showed significant delayed latency of P300 (p = 0.04) compared to the AusControl. The FPT showed significantly poorer performance (p = 0.04) compared to AusControls. The two otitis media groups showed no significant differences between each other on P300. Significant differences were seen however in temporal processing tests performance between the two cohorts for the otitis media groups. The BrOM group had significantly poorer responses (p<0.001) for FPT and GIN compared to the AusOM group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support that although differences exist between BrOM and AusOM groups, otitis media can be demonstrated to affect the underlying mechanisms of the P300 measures and behavioral auditory responses in two different populations of children.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of auditory information processing in the insular cortex: an intracranial EEG study using an oddball paradigm.

Functional neuroimaging studies using auditory stimuli consistently show activation of the insular cortex. However, due to the limited temporal resolution of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques, the role(s) of the insula in auditory processing remains unclear. As the anterior insula (aI) and the posterior insula (pI) have different connections and are thought to be functionally distinct, it is likely that these two areas contribute differently to auditory processing. Our study examines the spatiotemporal dynamics of auditory processing in the insula using intracranial electroencephalography (EEG). Eight epileptic patients completed two passive listening tasks and one three-stimulus auditory oddball detection task during the intracranial EEG monitoring of their drug-resistant seizures. Recordings were obtained from depth electrodes implanted in 11 insulae. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were analyzed using permutation analyses during the N100 and the P300 intervals, and modulations of alpha, theta, and gamma band responses were compared using Wilcoxon/Mann-Whitney analyses. N100 responses to auditory stimuli were mostly observed in the pI and were little affected by task conditions. Auditory target detection was associated with P300 ERPs, and alpha, theta, high- and low-gamma responses, preferentially at aI contacts. Results suggest that the aI is involved in voluntary attentional processing of task-relevant information, whereas the pI is involved in automatic auditory processing.

Omission related brain responses reflect specific and unspecific action-effect couplings.

When an auditory stimulus is predicted but unexpectedly omitted, an omission response can be observed in the EEG. This endogenous response to the absence of a stimulus demonstrates the important role of prediction in perception. SanMiguel et al. (2013a) showed that in order to observe an omission response, a specific prediction concerning the identity of an upcoming stimulus is necessary. They used button presses coupled to either a single sound (predictable identity), or a random sound (unpredictable identity). In the event-related potentials, a sequence of omission responses consisting of oN1, oN2, and oP3 was observed in the single condition but not in the random condition. Given the importance of omission studies to understand the role of prediction in perception, we replicated this study. We enhanced statistical power by doubling the sample size and adjusting data pre-processing, and applied temporal principal component analysis and replication Bayes statistics. Results in the single sound condition were successfully replicated. Principal component analysis additionally revealed attenuated oN1 and oP3 omission responses in the random sound condition. These results suggest the existence of both specific and unspecific predictions along the sound processing hierarchy, where precision weighting possibly influences the strength of prediction error. Results are discussed in the framework of predictive coding and are congruent with everyday life, where uncertainty often requires broader or more general predictions.

The influence of cognitive load on susceptibility to audio.

In this study we evaluate how cognitive load affects susceptibility to auditory signals. Previous research has used the frontal P3 (fP3) event related potential response to auditory novel stimuli as an index for susceptibility to auditory signals. This work demonstrated that tasks that induce cognitive load such as visual and manual tasks, reduced susceptibility. It is however unknown whether cognitive load without visual or manual components also reduces susceptibility. To investigate this, we induced cognitive load by means of the verb generation task, in which participants need to think about a verb that matches a noun. The susceptibility to auditory signals was measured by recording the event related potential in response to a successively presented oddball probe stimulus at 3 different inter-stimulus intervals, 0 ms, 200 ms or 400 ms after the offset of the noun from the verb generation task. An additional control baseline condition, in which oddball response was probed without a verb generation task, was also included. Results show that the cognitive load associated with the verb task reduces fP3 response (and associated auditory signal susceptibility) compared to baseline, independent of presentation interval. This suggests that not only visual and motor processing, but also cognitive load without visual or manual components, can reduce susceptibility to auditory signals and alerts.