Is the face-sensitive N170 the only ERP not affected by selective attention?

We assessed the effect of directed attention on early neurophysiological in dices of face processing, measuring the N170 event-related potential (ERP). Twelve subjects were tested on two tasks each in which they attended eithe r to eyes only or to faces with eyes closed, presented within series of fac ial and control stimuli. Consistent with the ERP literature, N170 was recor ded to facial stimuli at posterior temporal electrodes and a concomitant po sitive peak at the vertex, with latencies around 150 ms for faces and 174 m s for eyes. However, unlike fMRI studies, neither the latency nor the ampli tude of the peaks were sensitive to the target/non-target status of either the eyes or the face stimuli. This suggests that early stages of face proce ssing indexed by N170 are automatic and unmodified by selective attention. NeuroReport 11:2167-2171 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.