Endogenous Attention Effects on Metacognitive Awareness: A Proof-of-Concept DLPFC-cTBS Study
Abstract
Background: While endogenous attention is known to influence visual metacognition, it remains unclear whether these effects occur without altering perceptual performance, and what specific role the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays in mediating them. Objective: We investigated whether spatial attention modulates subjective visibility and metacognitive efficiency independently of perceptual sensitivity (d′), and whether the DLPFC contributes to these effects. Methods: Across two experiments, participants completed a two-alternative forced-choice discrimination task embedded within a Posner cueing paradigm, utilizing adaptive staircases. We assessed reaction times, signal detection metrics, subjective visibility ratings, and metacognitive efficiency. In Experiment 2, this task was performed following continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) targeting either the bilateral DLPFC or an active control site (primary somatosensory cortex, S1). Results: In Experiment 1, invalid cues prolonged reaction times, shifted response bias, and impaired metacognitive efficiency, without affecting overall accuracy, subjective visibility, or perceptual sensitivity. In Experiment 2, whereas these attentional effects persisted following control S1-cTBS, they were significantly disrupted following DLPFC-cTBS, despite objective perceptual performance remaining stable. Furthermore, trial-by- trial analyses indicated that DLPFC disruption impairs adaptive metacognitive updating. Conclusions: Endogenous spatial attention modulates visual metacognitive efficiency independently of objective perceptual sensitivity. Notably, our neuromodulatory findings suggest that the DLPFC does not generate metacognitive contents directly, but rather regulates the executive and attentional processes that inform metacognitive evaluations.
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BibTeX
@misc{martin2026endogenous,
title = {{Endogenous Attention Effects on Metacognitive Awareness: A Proof-of-Concept DLPFC-cTBS Study}},
author = {Antonio Martin and Tzu-Yu Hsu and Joaquim Streicher},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/adqe2_v3},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/adqe2_v3/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Endogenous Attention Effects on Metacognitive Awareness: A Proof-of-Concept DLPFC-cTBS Study
AU - Antonio Martin
AU - Tzu-Yu Hsu
AU - Joaquim Streicher
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/adqe2_v3
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/adqe2_v3/
AB - Background: While endogenous attention is known to influence visual metacognition, it remains unclear whether these effects occur without altering perceptual performance, and what specific role the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays in mediating them. Objective: We investigated whether spatial attention modulates subjective visibility and metacognitive efficiency independently of perceptual sensitivity (d′), and whether the DLPFC contributes to these effects. Methods: Across two experiments, participants completed a two-alternative forced-choice discrimination task embedded within a Posner cueing paradigm, utilizing adaptive staircases. We assessed reaction times, signal detection metrics, subjective visibility ratings, and metacognitive efficiency. In Experiment 2, this task was performed following continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) targeting either the bilateral DLPFC or an active control site (primary somatosensory cortex, S1). Results: In Experiment 1, invalid cues prolonged reaction times, shifted response bias, and impaired metacognitive efficiency, without affecting overall accuracy, subjective visibility, or perceptual sensitivity. In Experiment 2, whereas these attentional effects persisted following control S1-cTBS, they were significantly disrupted following DLPFC-cTBS, despite objective perceptual performance remaining stable. Furthermore, trial-by- trial analyses indicated that DLPFC disruption impairs adaptive metacognitive updating. Conclusions: Endogenous spatial attention modulates visual metacognitive efficiency independently of objective perceptual sensitivity. Notably, our neuromodulatory findings suggest that the DLPFC does not generate metacognitive contents directly, but rather regulates the executive and attentional processes that inform metacognitive evaluations.
ER -