Reward enhances cross-modal conflict control in object categorization: Electrophysiological evidence

Cross-modal conflict arises when information from different sensory modalities are incompatible with each other. Such conflict may influence the processing of stimuli in the task-relevant modality and call for cognitive control to resolve this conflict. Here, we investigate how reward modulates cross-modal conflict control during object categorization. Participants categorized pictures as representing animate or inanimate objects while ignoring auditory stimuli. We manipulated the audiovisual congruency and performance-dependent reward (reward vs. no-reward). Behavioral results showed a significant cross-modal interference effect only in the no-reward condition, not in the reward condition. Neurally, we found that the frontocentral N2and theta band oscillations were larger in the incongruent condition than in the congruent condition, but only when there was no reward for performance. The converging behavioral and electrophysiological evidence demonstrates that reward enhances cognitive control in a cross-modal context and reduces cross-modal conflict.