Event-related potentials associated with a shift in the strategy of visual perception during recognition of a hierarchical stimulus

Recording of event-related potentials (ERPs) was used to study the brain mechanisms of shifting the strategy of recognition of the global and local levels of a hierarchical image by adult subjects. A shift in the strategy of visual recognition results in substantial changes in ERP parameters in the caudal and frontocentral cortical areas. The activation effect of the switchover from one recognition strategy to another is associated with an increase in the amplitude of early ERP components (C1, P100, and N150) of the caudal cortical areas. Changes in the late ERP components associated with processing of significant information features during the shift in the recognition strategy are observed in the frontal areas within the interval 388–579 ms, with the amplitude of components N300 and N400 increasing.