Although previous studies have indicated that the occurrence of stimulus-response binding (and feature-response binding) is automatic, the influence of attention on the strength of stimulus-response binding remains unclear. This study investigated whether feature-based attention affected feature-response binding within multi-feature objects. We employed a modified partial repetition cost (PRC) paradigm. By maintaining a constant level of attention to features during the retrieval phase and manipulating the task relevance of features during the binding phase, we were able to modulate attention to features during the binding phase. Behavioral data and EEG signals were recorded, incorporating temporal EEG signal decomposition and representational similarity analysis (RSA) to comprehensively examine the influence of attention on the strength of stimulus-response binding during both the binding and retrieval phases. Our results indicated that features attended to during the binding phase exhibited greater behavioral PRC effects during the retrieval phase compared to unattended features. Correspondingly, ERP P3 and decomposed C-cluster P3 components showed larger amplitudes under partial repetition conditions, but this modulation was only observed for task-relevant features during the retrieval phase. Additionally, RSA results during the binding phase demonstrated higher representational similarity scores for feature-response binding when features were attended to. These findings suggest that feature-based attention during the binding phase enhances the strength of feature-response binding, aligning with the theory of intentional weighting in cognitive control.

Audiovisual conflict control is an important cognitive function in humans. However, it was not clear whether there was a defect in audiovisual conflict control in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, nor was it clear how it was reflected at periods of perception and response in the cognitive process. We recruited 27 PD patients and 22 healthy controls (HC) to complete audiovisual matching task to investigate the audiovisual conflict in PD patients at different processing periods and its relationship with cortical thickness. Behavioral results showed that HC group showed stronger visual interference at both periods of perception and response. But in PD patients, there was no significant difference between visual interference and auditory interference at period of perception, indicating the abnormal audiovisual conflict. In addition, the cortical thickness of left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in PD patients was positively correlated with the sensory interference (visual interference > auditory interference) at period of perception, and the thinner the left MFG was, the weaker sensory interference was. The abnormal audiovisual conflict in PD patients was reflected at period of perception, and was associated with the cortical thickness of the left MFG, revealing the important role of the left MFG in conflict control in PD patients.