Salience versus Valence in Implicit Cursor Control: First Indications of Separate Cortical Processes

It has previously been shown that passive brain-computer interfacing enables implicit control over a cursor: participants were able to guide a cursor towards a target without being aware of doing so. The control was based on their brain’s automatic responses to the cursor’s autonomous movements. This raises questions with respect to informed consent and privacy of thought. The extent to which these ethical issues are truly relevant depends on the type of cognitive processes targeted by implicit control paradigms: did the cursor indeed have access to the participants’ subjective preferences? It has been argued that the relevant neurophysiological processes may be based on visual salience rather than on the participants’ personal interpretations. We now present a paradigm that aims to differentiate between salience and valence. Based on data from eight initial participants, we present findings that indicate both processes play a role, meaning that valence is not solely responsible, but indeed reflected in the signal.