Based on previous findings (Pakai-Stecina et al., 2023, 2024), threat-related stimuli elicit robust attentional capture when they are presented as distractors during a task. This may arise from both the stimuli’s strong emotional valence or their physical features, such as shape. To examine this distractor effect, we presented threatening (e.g. snake, syringe) and shape-matched neutral (e.g., caterpillars, knitting pins) stimuli as peripheral distractors during a central masked Vernier acuity task. Here, we investigated the role of statistical learning and spatial proximity by introducing predictable (high-probability) and unpredictable (low-probability) locations of threat-related distractors, positioned near or far from the central task.

Analysing modulations of orientation tuning by identifying masked Vernier discrimination, our study examines whether higher-order cognitive evaluation of threat-related stimuli affects visual processing, probably as early as in the primary visual cortex. By exploring the interplay between threat-related information, distractor predictability, proximity and early-level visual processing, our findings will contribute to a better understanding of how cognitive and visual processes interact under conditions of attentional demand.