The N2pc and P3 event-related potentials (ERPs), used to index selective attention and access to working memory and conscious awareness, respectively, have been important tools in cognitive sciences. Although it is likely that these two components and the underlying cognitive processes are temporally and functionally linked, such links have not yet been convincingly demonstrated. Adopting a novel methodological approach based on dynamic time warping (DTW), we provide evidence that the N2pc and P3 ERP components are temporally linked. We analyzed data from an experiment where 23 participants (16 women) monitored bilateral rapid serial streams of letters and digits in order to report a target digit indicated by a shape cue, separately for trials with correct responses and trials where a temporally proximal distractor was reported instead (distractor intrusion). DTW analyses revealed that N2pc and P3 latencies were correlated in time, both when the target or a distractor was reported. Notably, this link was weaker on distractor intrusion trials. This N2pc–P3 association is discussed with respect to the relationship between attention and access consciousness. Our results demonstrate that our novel method provides a valuable approach for assessing temporal links between two cognitive processes and their underlying modulating factors. This method allows to establish links and their modulator for any two time-series across all domains of the field (general-purpose MATLAB functions and a Python module are provided alongside this paper).

N2pc 和 P3 事件相关电位 (ERP) 分别用于索引选择性注意力以及对工作记忆和意识意识的访问，一直是认知科学中的重要工具。尽管这两个组成部分和潜在的认知过程可能在时间和功能上存在联系，但这种联系尚未得到令人信服的证明。采用基于动态时间扭曲 (DTW) 的新颖方法，我们提供了 N2pc 和 P3 ERP 组件在时间上相关的证据。我们分析了一项实验的数据，其中 23 名参与者（16 名女性）监测了双侧快速连续的字母和数字流，以便报告由形状提示指示的目标数字，分别进行了正确反应的试验和报告了时间邻近干扰项的试验相反（干扰干扰）。 DTW 分析表明，无论是报告目标还是干扰物，N2pc 和 P3 延迟在时间上都是相关的。值得注意的是，这种联系在干扰器入侵试验中较弱。这种 N2pc-P3 关联是针对注意力和访问意识之间的关系进行讨论的。我们的结果表明，我们的新方法为评估两个认知过程及其潜在调节因素之间的时间联系提供了一种有价值的方法。该方法允许为该领域所有领域的任意两个时间序列建立链接及其调制器（本文附带通用 MATLAB 函数和 Python 模块）。