To summarize, in the present study we investigated the time course of task preparation as a function of anticipated reward and anticipated attentional task demands. While preparing for the target, reward influenced neural processes more rapidly, with large effects in both the early and late stage of preparation. In contrast, it seems that processing resources were only later allocated in a strategic fashion that also incorporated anticipated task difficulty. These findings provide evidence that effects of voluntary attentional demands and reward can be temporally dissociated, not only during task execution but also during task preparation.
