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Chen J, Zou Y, Jia YC, Ding FY, Luo J, Cheng G. Characteristics of the time processing of adults' strongest sustained attentional bias toward neutral infant faces. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 243:105928. [PMID: 38643735 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that adults exhibit the strongest attentional bias toward neutral infant faces when viewing faces with different expressions at different attentional processing stages due to different stimulus presentation times. However, it is not clear how the characteristics of the temporal processing associated with the strongest effect change over time. Thus, we combined a free-viewing task with eye-tracking technology to measure adults' attentional bias toward infant and adult faces with happy, neutral, and sad expressions of the same face. The results of the analysis of the total time course indicated that the strongest effect occurred during the strategic processing stage. However, the results of the analysis of the split time course revealed that sad infant faces first elicited adults' attentional bias at 0 to 500 ms, whereas the strongest effect of attentional bias toward neutral infant faces was observed at 1000 to 3000 ms, peaking at 1500 to 2000 ms. In addition, women and men had no differences in their responses to different expressions. In summary, this study provides further evidence that adults' attentional bias toward infant faces across stages of attention processing is modulated by expressions. Specifically, during automatic processing adults' attentional bias was directed toward sad infant faces, followed by a shift to the processing of neutral infant faces during strategic processing, which ultimately resulted in the strongest effect. These findings highlight that this strongest effect is dynamic and associated with a specific time window in the strategic process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Chen
- School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China; Center for Rural Children and Adolescents Mental Health Education, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Yan Zou
- Department of Women and Children, The Second People's Hospital of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550000, China
| | - Yun Cheng Jia
- School of National Culture and Cognitive Science, Guizhou Minzu University, Guiyang 550029, China
| | - Fang Yuan Ding
- School of National Culture and Cognitive Science, Guizhou Minzu University, Guiyang 550029, China
| | - Jie Luo
- School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Gang Cheng
- School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China; Center for Rural Children and Adolescents Mental Health Education, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China.
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Das S, Yi W, Ding M, Mangun GR. Optimizing cognitive neuroscience experiments for separating event- related fMRI BOLD responses in non-randomized alternating designs. FRONTIERS IN NEUROIMAGING 2023; 2:1068616. [PMID: 37554656 PMCID: PMC10406298 DOI: 10.3389/fnimg.2023.1068616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revolutionized human brain research. But there exists a fundamental mismatch between the rapid time course of neural events and the sluggish nature of the fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal, which presents special challenges for cognitive neuroscience research. This limitation in the temporal resolution of fMRI puts constraints on the information about brain function that can be obtained with fMRI and also presents methodological challenges. Most notably, when using fMRI to measure neural events occurring closely in time, the BOLD signals may temporally overlap one another. This overlap problem may be exacerbated in complex experimental paradigms (stimuli and tasks) that are designed to manipulate and isolate specific cognitive-neural processes involved in perception, cognition, and action. Optimization strategies to deconvolve overlapping BOLD signals have proven effective in providing separate estimates of BOLD signals from temporally overlapping brain activity, but there remains reduced efficacy of such approaches in many cases. For example, when stimulus events necessarily follow a non-random order, like in trial-by-trial cued attention or working memory paradigms. Our goal is to provide guidance to improve the efficiency with which the underlying responses evoked by one event type can be detected, estimated, and distinguished from other events in designs common in cognitive neuroscience research. We pursue this goal using simulations that model the nonlinear and transient properties of fMRI signals, and which use more realistic models of noise. Our simulations manipulated: (i) Inter-Stimulus-Interval (ISI), (ii) proportion of so-called null events, and (iii) nonlinearities in the BOLD signal due to both cognitive and design parameters. We offer a theoretical framework along with a python toolbox called deconvolve to provide guidance on the optimal design parameters that will be of particular utility when using non-random, alternating event sequences in experimental designs. In addition, though, we also highlight the challenges and limitations in simultaneously optimizing both detection and estimation efficiency of BOLD signals in these common, but complex, cognitive neuroscience designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soukhin Das
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Weigang Yi
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Mingzhou Ding
- Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - George R. Mangun
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
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Zhang Q, Luo C, Ngetich R, Zhang J, Jin Z, Li L. Visual Selective Attention P300 Source in Frontal-Parietal Lobe: ERP and fMRI Study. Brain Topogr 2022; 35:636-650. [PMID: 36178537 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-022-00916-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Visual selective attention can be achieved into bottom-up and top-down attention. Different selective attention tasks involve different attention control ways. The pop-out task requires more bottom-up attention, whereas the search task involves more top-down attention. P300, which is the positive potential generated by the brain in the latency of 300 ~ 600 ms after stimulus, reflects the processing of attention. There is no consensus on the P300 source. The aim of present study is to study the source of P300 elicited by different visual selective attention. We collected thirteen participants' P300 elicited by pop-out and search tasks with event-related potentials (ERP). We collected twenty-six participants' activation brain regions in pop-out and search tasks with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). And we analyzed the sources of P300 using the ERP and fMRI integration with high temporal resolution and high spatial resolution. ERP results indicated that the pop-out task induced larger P300 than the search task. P300 induced by the two tasks distributed at frontal and parietal lobes, with P300 induced by the pop-out task mainly at the parietal lobe and that induced by the search task mainly at the frontal lobe. Further ERP and fMRI integration analysis showed that neural difference sources of P300 were the right precentral gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus (medial orbital), left middle temporal gyrus, left rolandic operculum, right postcentral gyrus, and left angular gyrus. Our study suggests that the frontal and parietal lobes contribute to the P300 component of visual selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuzhu Zhang
- MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China
| | - Cimei Luo
- MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China
| | - Ronald Ngetich
- MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China
| | - Junjun Zhang
- MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China
| | - Zhenlan Jin
- MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China
| | - Ling Li
- MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, High-Field Magnetic Resonance Brain Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Center for Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China.
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Park S, Serences JT. Relative precision of top-down attentional modulations is lower in early visual cortex compared to mid- and high-level visual areas. J Neurophysiol 2022; 127:504-518. [PMID: 35020526 PMCID: PMC8836715 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00300.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Top-down spatial attention enhances cortical representations of behaviorally relevant visual information and increases the precision of perceptual reports. However, little is known about the relative precision of top-down attentional modulations in different visual areas, especially compared with the highly precise stimulus-driven responses that are observed in early visual cortex. For example, the precision of attentional modulations in early visual areas may be limited by the relatively coarse spatial selectivity and the anatomical connectivity of the areas in prefrontal cortex that generate and relay the top-down signals. Here, we used functional MRI (fMRI) and human participants to assess the precision of bottom-up spatial representations evoked by high-contrast stimuli across the visual hierarchy. Then, we examined the relative precision of top-down attentional modulations in the absence of spatially specific bottom-up drive. Whereas V1 showed the largest relative difference between the precision of top-down attentional modulations and the precision of bottom-up modulations, midlevel areas such as V4 showed relatively smaller differences between the precision of top-down and bottom-up modulations. Overall, this interaction between visual areas (e.g., V1 vs. V4) and the relative precision of top-down and bottom-up modulations suggests that the precision of top-down attentional modulations is limited by the representational fidelity of areas that generate and relay top-down feedback signals.NEW & NOTEWORTHY When the relative precision of purely top-down and bottom-up signals were compared across visual areas, early visual areas like V1 showed higher bottom-up precision compared with top-down precision. In contrast, midlevel areas showed similar levels of top-down and bottom-up precision. This result suggests that the precision of top-down attentional modulations may be limited by the relatively coarse spatial selectivity and the anatomical connectivity of the areas generating and relaying the signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunyoung Park
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - John T Serences
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
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Botta F, Lupiáñez J, Santangelo V, Martín-Arévalo E. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Superior Parietal Lobule Modulates the Retro-Cue Benefit in Visual Short-Term Memory. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11020252. [PMID: 33670446 PMCID: PMC7922694 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Several studies have shown enhanced performance in change detection tasks when spatial cues indicating the probe's location are presented after the memory array has disappeared (i.e., retro-cues) compared with spatial cues that are presented simultaneously with the test array (i.e., post-cues). This retro-cue benefit led some authors to propose the existence of two different stores of visual short-term memory: a weak but high-capacity store (fragile memory (FM)) linked to the effect of retro-cues and a robust but low-capacity store (working memory (WM)) linked to the effect of post-cues. The former is thought to be an attention-free system, whereas the latter would strictly depend on selective attention. Nonetheless, this dissociation is under debate, and several authors do not consider retro-cues as a proxy to measure the existence of an independent memory system (e.g., FM). We approached this controversial issue by altering the attention-related functions in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), whose effects were mediated by the integrity of the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Specifically, we asked whether TMS on the SPL affected the performance of retro cues vs. post-cues to a similar extent. The results showed that TMS on the SPL, mediated by right SLF-III integrity, produced a modulation of the retro-cue benefit, namely a memory capacity decrease in the post-cues but not in the retro-cues. These findings have strong implications for the debate on the existence of independent stages of visual short-term memory and for the growing literature showing a key role of the SLF for explaining the variability of TMS effects across participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiano Botta
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain; (J.L.); (E.M.-A.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Juan Lupiáñez
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain; (J.L.); (E.M.-A.)
| | - Valerio Santangelo
- Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences & Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy;
- Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Elisa Martín-Arévalo
- Department of Experimental Psychology and Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain; (J.L.); (E.M.-A.)
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Guha A, Spielberg J, Lake J, Popov T, Heller W, Yee CM, Miller GA. Effective connectivity between Broca's area and amygdala as a mechanism of top-down control in worry. Clin Psychol Sci 2020; 8:84-98. [PMID: 32983628 PMCID: PMC7517719 DOI: 10.1177/2167702619867098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Individuals higher in trait worry exhibit increased activation in Broca's area during inhibitory processing tasks. To identify whether such activity represents an adaptive mechanism supporting top-down control, functional and effective connectivity of Broca's area were investigated during a task of inhibitory control. fMRI data obtained from 106 participants performing an emotion-word Stroop task were examined using psychophysiological interaction and Granger Causality (GC) analyses. Findings revealed greater directed connectivity from Broca's to amygdala in the presence of emotional distraction. Furthermore, a predictive relationship was observed between worry and the asymmetry in effective connectivity, with worriers exhibiting greater directed connectivity from Broca's to amygdala. When performing the task, worriers with greater GC directional asymmetry were more accurate than worriers with less asymmetry. Present findings indicate that individuals with elevated trait worry employ a mechanism of top-down control in which communication from Broca's to amygdala fosters successful compensation for interference effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anika Guha
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1563, USA
| | - Jeffrey Spielberg
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Jessica Lake
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1563, USA
| | - Tzvetan Popov
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Wendy Heller
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
| | - Cindy M Yee
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1563, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Gregory A Miller
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1563, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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Yu SH, Hwang IS, Huang CY. Neuronal Responses to a Postural Dual-Task With Differential Attentional Prioritizations: Compensatory Resource Allocation With Healthy Aging. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2019; 74:1326-1334. [PMID: 29955844 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gby073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Restricted central processing in older adults prevents optimization of a dual task with a flexible prioritization strategy. This study investigated the neural mechanisms of task-priority in young and older adults when performing a posture-motor dual-task. METHOD Sixteen healthy young and 16 older adults performed a force-matching task on a mobile-platform under posture-focus (PF) and supraposture-focus (SF) conditions. The platform movement, force-matching performance, and event-related potentials in the preparatory period were recorded. RESULTS For the elders, the postural stability and force-matching accuracy using the PF strategy were inferior to those using the SF strategy; whereas, the dual-task performances of the young adults were less affected by the prioritization. Only the elders exhibited the P1 wave, with the PF strategy associated with a smaller P1 and larger P1 than the SF strategy in the sensorimotor-parietal and right frontotemporal areas, respectively. The PF strategy also led to a larger P2 wave in the right frontotemporal area of elders, but a greater P2 wave in the sensorimotor-parietal area of young adults. DISCUSSION For both prioritization strategies, older adults entailed a longer preparatory process than younger adults. Dual-task performance of older adults was more vulnerable to PF strategy, underlying compensatory resource allocation in the preparatory period for resolution of dual-task interference due to degenerated frontal function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Han Yu
- Physical Therapy Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ing-Shiou Hwang
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Ya Huang
- School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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Pierce JE, Saj A, Vuilleumier P. Differential parietal activations for spatial remapping and saccadic control in a visual memory task. Neuropsychologia 2019; 131:129-138. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Revised: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Blagovechtchenski E, Agranovich O, Kononova Y, Nazarova M, Nikulin VV. Perspectives for the Use of Neurotechnologies in Conjunction With Muscle Autotransplantation in Children. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:99. [PMID: 30828288 PMCID: PMC6384248 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Evgueni Blagovechtchenski
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga Agranovich
- The Turner Scientific Research Institute for Children's Orthopedics, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Yelisaveta Kononova
- The Turner Scientific Research Institute for Children's Orthopedics, Saint Petersburg, Russia
| | - Maria Nazarova
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.,Federal Center for Cerebrovascular Pathology and Stroke, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vadim V Nikulin
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.,Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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The Difference of Neural Networks between Bimanual Antiphase and In-Phase Upper Limb Movements: A Preliminary Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. Behav Neurol 2017; 2017:8041962. [PMID: 28701822 PMCID: PMC5496109 DOI: 10.1155/2017/8041962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Revised: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Most daily movements require some degree of collaboration between the upper limbs. The neural mechanisms are bimanual-condition specific and therefore should be different between different activities. In this study, we aimed to explore intraregional activation and interregional connectivity during bimanual movement by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Ten right-handed, normal subjects were recruited. The neural correlates of unimanual (right side) and bimanual (in-phase and antiphase) upper limb movements were investigated. Connectivity analyses were carried out using the psychophysiological interaction (PPI) model. The cerebellum was strongly activated in both unimanual and bimanual movements, and the cingulate motor area (CMA) was the most activated brain area in antiphase bimanual movement. Moreover, compared with unimanual movement, CMA activation was also observed in antiphase bimanual movement, but not in in-phase bimanual movement. In addition, we carried out the PPI model to study the differences of effective connectivity and found that the cerebellum was more connected with the CMA during antiphase bimanual movement than in-phase bimanual movement. Our findings elucidate the differences of the cerebellar-cerebral functional connectivity between antiphase and in-phase bimanual movements, which could be used to facilitate the development of a neuroscience perspective on bimanual movement control in patients with motor impairments.
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Lucion MK, Oliveira V, Bizarro L, Bischoff AR, Silveira PP, Kauer-Sant'Anna M. Attentional bias toward infant faces – Review of the adaptive and clinical relevance. Int J Psychophysiol 2017; 114:1-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2016] [Revised: 01/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Decoding hand gestures from primary somatosensory cortex using high-density ECoG. Neuroimage 2016; 147:130-142. [PMID: 27926827 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2016] [Revised: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Electrocorticography (ECoG) based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as a way to restore and replace motor function or communication in severely paralyzed people. To date, most motor-based BCIs have either focused on the sensorimotor cortex as a whole or on the primary motor cortex (M1) as a source of signals for this purpose. Still, target areas for BCI are not confined to M1, and more brain regions may provide suitable BCI control signals. A logical candidate is the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), which not only shares similar somatotopic organization to M1, but also has been suggested to have a role beyond sensory feedback during movement execution. Here, we investigated whether four complex hand gestures, taken from the American sign language alphabet, can be decoded exclusively from S1 using both spatial and temporal information. For decoding, we used the signal recorded from a small patch of cortex with subdural high-density (HD) grids in five patients with intractable epilepsy. Notably, we introduce a new method of trial alignment based on the increase of the electrophysiological response, which virtually eliminates the confounding effects of systematic and non-systematic temporal differences within and between gestures execution. Results show that S1 classification scores are high (76%), similar to those obtained from M1 (74%) and sensorimotor cortex as a whole (85%), and significantly above chance level (25%). We conclude that S1 offers characteristic spatiotemporal neuronal activation patterns that are discriminative between gestures, and that it is possible to decode gestures with high accuracy from a very small patch of cortex using subdurally implanted HD grids. The feasibility of decoding hand gestures using HD-ECoG grids encourages further investigation of implantable BCI systems for direct interaction between the brain and external devices with multiple degrees of freedom.
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Kohama SG, Renner L, Landauer N, Weiss AR, Urbanski HF, Park B, Voytko ML, Neuringer M. Effect of Ovarian Hormone Therapy on Cognition in the Aged Female Rhesus Macaque. J Neurosci 2016; 36:10416-10424. [PMID: 27707975 PMCID: PMC5050333 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0909-16.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2016] [Revised: 07/14/2016] [Accepted: 08/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies of the effect of hormone therapy on cognitive function in menopausal women have been equivocal, in part due to differences in the type and timing of hormone treatment. Here we cognitively tested aged female rhesus macaques on (1) the delayed response task of spatial working memory, (2) a visuospatial attention task that measured spatially and temporally cued reaction times, and (3) a simple reaction time task as a control for motor speed. After task acquisition, animals were ovariectomized (OVX). Their performance was compared with intact controls for 2 months, at which time no group differences were found. The OVX animals were then assigned to treatment with either a subcutaneous sham implant (OVX), 17-β estradiol (E) implant (OVX+E) or E implant plus cyclic oral progesterone (OVX+EP). All groups were then tested repeatedly over 12 months. The OVX+E animals performed significantly better on the delayed response task than all of the other groups for much of the 12 month testing period. The OVX+EP animals also showed improved performance in the delayed response task, but only at 30 s delays and with performance levels below that of OVX+E animals. The OVX+E animals also performed significantly better in the visuospatial attention task, particularly in the most challenging invalid cue condition; this difference also was maintained across the 12 month testing period. Simple reaction time was not affected by hormonal manipulation. These data demonstrate that chronic, continuous administration of E can exert multiple beneficial cognitive effects in aged, OVX rhesus macaque females. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Hormone therapy after menopause is controversial. We tested the effects of hormone replacement in aged rhesus macaques, soon after surgically-induced menopause [ovariectomy (OVX)], on tests of memory and attention. Untreated ovarian-intact and OVX animals were compared with OVX animals receiving estradiol (E) alone or E with progesterone (P). E was administered in a continuous fashion via subcutaneous implant, whereas P was administered orally in a cyclic fashion. On both tests, E-treated animals performed better than the other 3 experimental groups across 1 year of treatment. Thus, in this monkey model, chronic E administered soon after the loss of ovarian hormones had long-term benefits for cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven G Kohama
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-3448
| | - Lauren Renner
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-3448
| | - Noelle Landauer
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-3448
| | - Alison R Weiss
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
| | - Henryk F Urbanski
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-3448, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239-3098
| | - Byung Park
- School of Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97239-3098, and
| | - Mary Lou Voytko
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1010
| | - Martha Neuringer
- Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-3448,
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Wombolt JR, Caine NG. Patterns on serpentine shapes elicit visual attention in marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Am J Primatol 2016; 78:928-36. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Revised: 04/03/2016] [Accepted: 05/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Nancy G. Caine
- California State University San Marcos; San Marcos California
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15
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Effects of cognitive load on neural and behavioral responses to smoking-cue distractors. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2016; 16:588-600. [PMID: 27012714 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-016-0416-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Smoking cessation failures are frequently thought to reflect poor top-down regulatory control over behavior. Previous studies have suggested that smoking cues occupy limited working memory resources, an effect that may contribute to difficulty achieving abstinence. Few studies have evaluated the effects of cognitive load on the ability to actively maintain information in the face of distracting smoking cues. For the present study, we adapted an fMRI probed recall task under low and high cognitive load with three distractor conditions: control, neutral images, or smoking-related images. Consistent with a limited-resource model of cue reactivity, we predicted that the performance of daily smokers (n = 17) would be most impaired when high load was paired with smoking distractors. The results demonstrated a main effect of load, with decreased accuracy under high, as compared to low, cognitive load. Surprisingly, an interaction revealed that the effect of load was weakest in the smoking cue distractor condition. Along with this behavioral effect, we observed significantly greater activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) in the low-load condition than in the high-load condition for trials containing smoking cue distractors. Furthermore, load-related changes in rIFG activation partially mediated the effects of load on task accuracy in the smoking-cue distractor condition. These findings are discussed in the context of prevailing cognitive and cue reactivity theories. These results suggest that high cognitive load does not necessarily make smokers more susceptible to interference from smoking-related stimuli, and that elevated load may even have a buffering effect in the presence of smoking cues under certain conditions.
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Pail M, Dufková P, Mareček R, Zelinková J, Mikl M, Joel Shaw D, Brázdil M. Connectivity of Superior Temporal Sulcus During Target Detection. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. The aim of the current research was to study functional connectivity (FC) of the right superior temporal sulcus (rSTS) during visual target stimulus processing. This structure is presumed to be crucial in social cognition, but evidently participates in target detection as well. Twenty subjects participated in functional magnetic resonance examination for studying FC. We used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis of data acquired during the visual oddball task. During the visual oddball task rSTS had increased connectivity bilaterally with structures involved in memory operations (mesiotemporal cortices and basal ganglia) and evaluative processing related to decision making (left anterior cingulate cortex). Moreover, we revealed decreased connectivity of rSTS with structures involved in attentional processes (right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the posterior area with bilateral parietal cortex). Based on our results we hypothesize that in the detection of rare events, during visual information processing, rSTS is involved within neuronal networks related to attention, but also at later stages of stimuli processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Pail
- Behavioural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
- First Department of Neurology, Masaryk University, School of Medicine and St. Anne’s University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Dufková
- First Department of Neurology, Masaryk University, School of Medicine and St. Anne’s University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Radek Mareček
- First Department of Neurology, Masaryk University, School of Medicine and St. Anne’s University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
- Molecular and Functional Neuroimaging Research Group, CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Zelinková
- Behavioural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
- First Department of Neurology, Masaryk University, School of Medicine and St. Anne’s University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Mikl
- First Department of Neurology, Masaryk University, School of Medicine and St. Anne’s University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
- Molecular and Functional Neuroimaging Research Group, CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Joel Shaw
- Behavioural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
| | - Milan Brázdil
- Behavioural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
- First Department of Neurology, Masaryk University, School of Medicine and St. Anne’s University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
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Nicholls C, Bruno R, Matthews A. Chronic cannabis use and ERP correlates of visual selective attention during the performance of a flanker go/nogo task. Biol Psychol 2015; 110:115-25. [PMID: 26232619 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2014] [Revised: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between chronic cannabis use and visual selective attention by examining event-related potentials (ERPs) during the performance of a flanker go/nogo task. Male participants were 15 chronic cannabis users (minimum two years use, at least once per week) and 15 drug naive controls. Cannabis users showed longer reaction times compared to controls with equivalent accuracy. Cannabis users also showed a reduction in the N2 'nogo effect' at frontal sites, particularly for incongruent stimuli, and particularly in the right hemisphere. This suggests differences between chronic cannabis users and controls in terms of inhibitory processing within the executive control network, and may implicate the right inferior frontal cortex. There was also preliminary evidence for differences in early selective attention, with controls but not cannabis users showing modulation of N1 amplitude by flanker congruency. Further investigation is required to examine the potential reversibility of these residual effects after long-term abstinence and to examine the role of early selective attention mechanisms in more detail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare Nicholls
- School of Medicine (Psychology), University of Tasmania, Private Bag 30, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia
| | - Raimondo Bruno
- School of Medicine (Psychology), University of Tasmania, Private Bag 30, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia
| | - Allison Matthews
- School of Medicine (Psychology), University of Tasmania, Private Bag 30, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia.
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18
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Wendelken C. Meta-analysis: how does posterior parietal cortex contribute to reasoning? Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 8:1042. [PMID: 25653604 PMCID: PMC4301007 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.01042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2014] [Accepted: 12/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Reasoning depends on the contribution of posterior parietal cortex (PPC). But PPC is involved in many basic operations—including spatial attention, mathematical cognition, working memory, long-term memory, and language—and the nature of its contribution to reasoning is unclear. Psychological theories of the processes underlying reasoning make divergent claims about the neural systems that are likely to be involved, and better understanding the specific contribution of PPC can help to inform these theories. We set out to address several competing hypotheses, concerning the role of PPC in reasoning: (1) reasoning involves application of formal logic and is dependent on language, with PPC activation for reasoning mainly reflective of linguistic processing; (2) reasoning involves probabilistic computation and is thus dependent on numerical processing mechanisms in PPC; and (3) reasoning is built upon the representation and processing of spatial relations, and PPC activation associated with reasoning reflects spatial processing. We conducted two separate meta-analyses. First, we pooled data from our own studies of reasoning in adults, and examined activation in PPC regions of interest (ROI). Second, we conducted an automated meta-analysis using Neurosynth, in which we examined overlap between activation maps associated with reasoning and maps associated with other key functions of PPC. In both analyses, we observed reasoning-related activation concentrated in the left Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL). Reasoning maps demonstrated the greatest overlap with mathematical cognition. Maintenance, visuospatial, and phonological processing also demonstrated some overlap with reasoning, but a large portion of the reasoning map did not overlap with the map for any other function. This evidence suggests that the PPC’s contribution to reasoning may be most closely related to its role in mathematical cognition, but that a core component of this contribution may be specific to reasoning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carter Wendelken
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, CA, USA
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19
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Jacob MS, Duffy CJ. Might cortical hyper-responsiveness in aging contribute to Alzheimer's disease? PLoS One 2014; 9:e105962. [PMID: 25208332 PMCID: PMC4160186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2014] [Accepted: 07/25/2014] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Our goal is to understand the neural basis of functional impairment in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) to be able to characterize clinically significant decline and assess therapeutic efficacy. We used frequency-tagged ERPs to word and motion stimuli to study the effects of stimulus conditions and selective attention. ERPs to word or motion increase when a task-irrelevant 2nd stimulus is added, but decrease when the task is moved to that 2nd stimulus. Spectral analyses show task effects on response power without 2nd stimulus effects. However, phase coherence shows both 2nd stimulus and task effects. Thus, power and coherence are dissociably modulated by stimulus and task effects. Task-dependent phase coherence successively declines in aging and AD. In contrast, task-dependent spectral power increases in aging, only to decrease in AD. We hypothesize that age-related declines in signal coherence, associated with increased power generation, stresses neurons and contributes to the loss of response power and the development of functional impairment in AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S. Jacob
- Department of Neurology and the Center for Visual Science, The University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of California San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Charles J. Duffy
- Department of Neurology and the Center for Visual Science, The University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Anan K, Fujiwara K, Yaguchi C, Kiyota N. Effect of time pressure on attentional shift and anticipatory postural control during unilateral shoulder abduction reactions in an oddball-like paradigm. J Physiol Anthropol 2014; 33:17. [PMID: 24968935 PMCID: PMC4088313 DOI: 10.1186/1880-6805-33-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2014] [Accepted: 05/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The effect of time pressure on attentional shift and anticipatory postural control was investigated during unilateral shoulder abduction reactions in an oddball-like paradigm. Methods A cue signal (S1) - imperative signal (S2) sequence was repeated with various S2-S1 intervals (1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 s). S2 comprised target and non-target stimuli presented at the position (9° to the left or the right) indicated by S1. Right shoulder abduction was performed only in response to target stimuli, which were presented with a 30% probability. The P1, N1, N2, and P3 components of event-related potentials were analyzed, and onset times of postural muscles (electromyographic activity of erector spinae and gluteus medius) were quantified with respect to middle deltoid activation. Results There was no significant effect of S2-S1 interval on the latency or amplitude of P1, N1, or N2. The percentage of subjects with bimodal P3 peaks was significantly smaller and the slope of the P3 waveform in the 100 ms after the first peak was significantly steeper with a 1.0-s S2-S1 interval than with a 1.5- or 2.0-s S2-S1 interval. The onset of postural muscle activity was significantly later in the shorter interval conditions. Conclusions These results suggest that with a shorter S2-S1 interval, that is, higher time pressure, attention was allocated to hasten the latter part of cognitive processing that may relate to attentional shift from S2 to next S1, which led to insufficient postural preparation associated with arm movement and anticipatory attention directed to S2.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Katsuo Fujiwara
- Department of Human Movement and Health, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan.
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21
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Wolf RC, Sambataro F, Vasic N, Baldas EM, Ratheiser I, Bernhard Landwehrmeyer G, Depping MS, Thomann PA, Sprengelmeyer R, Süssmuth SD, Orth M. Visual system integrity and cognition in early Huntington's disease. Eur J Neurosci 2014; 40:2417-26. [PMID: 24698429 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2013] [Revised: 02/17/2014] [Accepted: 02/27/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Posterior cortical volume changes and abnormal visuomotor performance are present in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). However, it is unclear whether posterior cortical volume loss contributes to abnormal neural activity, and whether activity changes predict cognitive dysfunction. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we investigated brain structure and visual network activity at rest in patients with early HD (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). The symbol digit modalities test (SDMT) and subtests of the Visual Object and Space Perception Battery were completed offline. For functional MRI data, a group independent component analysis was used. Voxel-based morphometry was employed to assess regional brain atrophy, and 'biological parametric mapping' analyses were included to investigate the impact of atrophy on neural activity. Patients showed significantly worse visuomotor and visual object performance than controls. Structural analyses confirmed occipitotemporal atrophy. In patients and controls, two spatiotemporally distinct visual systems were identified. Patients showed decreased activity in the left fusiform cortex, and increased left cerebellar activity. These findings remained stable after correction for brain atrophy. Lower fusiform cortex activity was associated with lower SDMT performance and with higher disease burden scores. These associations were absent when cerebellar function was related to task performance and disease burden. The results of this study suggest that regionally specific functional abnormalities of the visual system can account for the worse visuomotor cognition in HD patients. However, occipital volume changes cannot sufficiently explain abnormal neural function in these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C Wolf
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Voßstraße 4, Heidelberg, 69115, Germany
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23
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Cate AD, Herron TJ, Kang X, Yund EW, Woods DL. Intermodal attention modulates visual processing in dorsal and ventral streams. Neuroimage 2012; 63:1295-304. [PMID: 22917986 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.08.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2011] [Revised: 06/13/2012] [Accepted: 08/05/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Attending to visual objects while ignoring information from other modalities is necessary for performing difficult visual discriminations, but it is unclear how selecting between sensory modalities alters processing within the visual system. We used an audio-visual intermodal selective attention paradigm with fMRI to study the effects of visual attention on cortical activity in the absence of competitive interactions between multiple visual stimuli. Complex stimuli (faces and words) activated higher visual areas even in the absence of visual attention. These stimulus-dependent activations (SDAs) covered foveal retinotopic cortex, extended ventrally to the anterior fusiform gyrus and dorsally to include multiple distinct foci in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Attention amplified the baseline response in posterior retinotopic regions and altered activity in different ways in the extrastriate dorsal and ventral pathways. The majority of the IPS was strongly and exclusively activated by visual attention: attention-related modulations (ARMs) encompassed and spread well beyond the focal SDAs. In contrast, in the fusiform gyrus only a small subset of the regions activated by unattended stimuli showed ARMs. Ventral cortex was also heterogeneous: we found a distinct ventrolateral region in the occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS) that was activated exclusively by attention, showing neither SDAs nor any significant stimulus preferences. Attention-dependent activations in the IPS and the OTS suggest that these regions play critical roles in intermodal visual attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Cate
- Psychology Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 109 Williams Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
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Mishra J, Bavelier D, Gazzaley A. How to Assess Gaming-Induced Benefits on Attention and Working Memory. Games Health J 2012; 1:192-198. [PMID: 24761314 DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2011.0033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Our daily actions are driven by our goals in the moment, constantly forcing us to choose among various options. Attention and working memory are key enablers of that process. Attention allows for selective processing of goal-relevant information and rejecting task-irrelevant information. Working memory functions to maintain goal-relevant information in memory for brief periods of time for subsequent recall and/or manipulation. Efficient attention and working memory thus support the best extraction and retention of environmental information for optimal task performance. Recent studies have evidenced that attention and working memory abilities can be enhanced by cognitive training games as well as entertainment videogames. Here we review key cognitive paradigms that have been used to evaluate the impact of game-based training on various aspects of attention and working memory. Common use of such methodology within the scientific community will enable direct comparison of the efficacy of different games across age groups and clinical populations. The availability of common assessment tools will ultimately facilitate development of the most effective forms of game-based training for cognitive rehabilitation and education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jyoti Mishra
- Department of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California , San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Daphne Bavelier
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York
| | - Adam Gazzaley
- Department of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California , San Francisco, San Francisco, California
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25
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Kiefer M. Executive control over unconscious cognition: attentional sensitization of unconscious information processing. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 6:61. [PMID: 22470329 PMCID: PMC3311241 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2012] [Accepted: 03/09/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Unconscious priming is a prototypical example of an automatic process, which is initiated without deliberate intention. Classical theories of automaticity assume that such unconscious automatic processes occur in a purely bottom-up driven fashion independent of executive control mechanisms. In contrast to these classical theories, our attentional sensitization model of unconscious information processing proposes that unconscious processing is susceptible to executive control and is only elicited if the cognitive system is configured accordingly. It is assumed that unconscious processing depends on attentional amplification of task-congruent processing pathways as a function of task sets. This article provides an overview of the latest research on executive control influences on unconscious information processing. I introduce refined theories of automaticity with a particular focus on the attentional sensitization model of unconscious cognition which is specifically developed to account for various attentional influences on different types of unconscious information processing. In support of the attentional sensitization model, empirical evidence is reviewed demonstrating executive control influences on unconscious cognition in the domains of visuo-motor and semantic processing: subliminal priming depends on attentional resources, is susceptible to stimulus expectations and is influenced by action intentions and task sets. This suggests that even unconscious processing is flexible and context-dependent as a function of higher-level executive control settings. I discuss that the assumption of attentional sensitization of unconscious information processing can accommodate conflicting findings regarding the automaticity of processes in many areas of cognition and emotion. This theoretical view has the potential to stimulate future research on executive control of unconscious processing in healthy and clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Kiefer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulm Ulm, Germany
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26
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Does the corollary discharge of attention exist? Conscious Cogn 2012; 21:325-39. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2011] [Accepted: 09/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Attentional sensitization of unconscious visual processing: Top-down influences on masked priming. Adv Cogn Psychol 2012; 8:50-61. [PMID: 22419966 PMCID: PMC3303109 DOI: 10.2478/v10053-008-0102-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2011] [Accepted: 10/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Classical theories of automaticity assume that automatic processes elicited by unconscious stimuli are autonomous and independent of higher-level cognitive influences. In contrast to these classical conceptions, we argue that automatic processing depends on attentional amplification of task-congruent processing pathways and propose an attentional sensitization model of unconscious visual processing: According to this model, unconscious visual processing is automatic in the sense that it is initiated without deliberate intention. However, unconscious visual processing is susceptible to attentional top-down control and is only elicited if the cognitive system is configured accordingly. In this article, we describe our attentional sensitization model and review recent evidence demonstrating attentional influences on subliminal priming, a prototypical example of an automatic process. We show that subliminal priming (a) depends on attentional resources, (b) is susceptible to stimulus expectations, (c) is influenced by action intentions, and (d) is modulated by task sets. These data suggest that attention enhances or attenuates unconscious visual processes in congruency with attentional task representations similar to conscious perception. We argue that seemingly paradoxical, hitherto unexplained findings regarding the automaticity of the underlying processes in many cognitive domains can be easily accommodated by our attentional sensitization model. We conclude this review with a discussion of future research questions regar-ding the nature of attentional control of unconscious visual processing.
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Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception: From a plethora of phenomena to general principles. Adv Cogn Psychol 2011; 7:55-67. [PMID: 22253669 PMCID: PMC3259028 DOI: 10.2478/v10053-008-0090-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2011] [Accepted: 08/05/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychological and neuroscience approaches have promoted much progress in elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie phenomenal visual awareness during the last decades. In this article, we provide an overview of the latest research investigating important phenomena in conscious and unconscious vision. We identify general principles to characterize conscious and unconscious visual perception, which may serve as important building blocks for a unified model to explain the plethora of findings. We argue that in particular the integration of principles from both conscious and unconscious vision is advantageous and provides critical constraints for developing adequate theoretical models. Based on the principles identified in our review, we outline essential components of a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual perception. We propose that awareness refers to consolidated visual representations, which are accessible to the entire brain and therefore globally available. However, visual awareness not only depends on consolidation within the visual system, but is additionally the result of a post-sensory gating process, which is mediated by higher-level cognitive control mechanisms. We further propose that amplification of visual representations by attentional sensitization is not exclusive to the domain of conscious perception, but also applies to visual stimuli, which remain unconscious. Conscious and unconscious processing modes are highly interdependent with influences in both directions. We therefore argue that exactly this interdependence renders a unified model of conscious and unconscious visual perception valuable. Computational modeling jointly with focused experimental research could lead to a better understanding of the plethora of empirical phenomena in consciousness research.
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29
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Yaguchi C, Fujiwara K. Effects of attentional dispersion on sensory-motor processing of anticipatory postural control during unilateral arm abduction. Clin Neurophysiol 2011; 123:1361-70. [PMID: 22119174 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2011.10.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2011] [Revised: 10/20/2011] [Accepted: 10/26/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We investigated effects of attentional dispersion on sensory-motor processing of anticipatory postural control during unilateral arm abduction. METHODS Thirteen adults performed arm abduction under two types of attentional dispersion conditions. A target stimulus was presented with 30% probability in two- or three-positions. By cue signal presentation, subjects either focused their attention on one position or divided attention for two or three positions and abducted right arm for target stimulus. Event-related potentials and onset time of postural muscles were measured. RESULTS P1-N1 and N2 amplitudes decreased with attentional dispersion in both conditions, but P3 did not change. With attentional dispersion to three-positions, N2 latency increased and start of late CNV was delayed, and also the onset time of gluteus medius was late in correlation to the late CNV changings, with no changings in two-positions. CONCLUSIONS With attentional dispersion, brain activation decreased in the area related to the sensory processing and especially in the stimulus discrimination area. With increasing attentional dispersion, the delay in motor preparation or anticipatory attention to target stimuli was related to the delay in stimulus discrimination and onset time of postural muscle activation. SIGNIFICANCE Effects of attentional dispersion on sensory-motor processing of anticipatory postural control were experimentally demonstrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chie Yaguchi
- Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Human Science, Hokkaido Bunkyo University, 5-196-1 Kogane-chuo, Eniwa 061-1449, Japan
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Couperus JW, Mangun GR. Signal enhancement and suppression during visual-spatial selective attention. Brain Res 2010; 1359:155-77. [PMID: 20807513 PMCID: PMC2955768 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.08.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2010] [Revised: 08/20/2010] [Accepted: 08/23/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Selective attention involves the relative enhancement of relevant versus irrelevant stimuli. However, whether this relative enhancement involves primarily enhancement of attended stimuli, or suppression of irrelevant stimuli, remains controversial. Moreover, if both enhancement and suppression are involved, whether they result from a single mechanism or separate mechanisms during attentional control or selection is not known. In two experiments using a spatial cuing paradigm with task-relevant targets and irrelevant distractors, target, and distractor processing was examined as a function of distractor expectancy. Additionally, in the second study the interaction of perceptual load and distractor expectancy was explored. In both experiments, distractors were either validly cued (70%) or invalidly cued (30%) in order to examine the effects of distractor expectancy on attentional control as well as target and distractor processing. The effects of distractor expectancy were assessed using event-related potentials recorded during the cue-to-target period (preparatory attention) and in response to the task-relevant target stimuli (selective stimulus processing). Analyses of distractor-present displays (anticipated versus unanticipated), showed modulations in brain activity during both the preparatory period and during target processing. The pattern of brain responses suggest both facilitation of attended targets and suppression of unattended distractors. These findings provide evidence for a two-process model of visual-spatial selective attention, where one mechanism (facilitation) influences relevant stimuli and another (suppression) acts to filter distracting stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Couperus
- School of Cognitive Science, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA.
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Gutteling TP, van Ettinger-Veenstra HM, Kenemans JL, Neggers SFW. Lateralized Frontal Eye Field Activity Precedes Occipital Activity Shortly before Saccades: Evidence for Cortico-cortical Feedback as a Mechanism Underlying Covert Attention Shifts. J Cogn Neurosci 2010; 22:1931-43. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
When an eye movement is prepared, attention is shifted toward the saccade end-goal. This coupling of eye movements and spatial attention is thought to be mediated by cortical connections between the FEFs and the visual cortex. Here, we present evidence for the existence of these connections. A visual discrimination task was performed while recording the EEG. Discrimination performance was significantly improved when the discrimination target and the saccade target matched. EEG results show that frontal activity precedes occipital activity contralateral to saccade direction when the saccade is prepared but not yet executed; these effects were absent in fixation conditions. This is consistent with the idea that the FEF exerts a direct modulatory influence on the visual cortex and enhances perception at the saccade end-goal.
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Li L, Gratton C, Yao D, Knight RT. Role of frontal and parietal cortices in the control of bottom-up and top-down attention in humans. Brain Res 2010; 1344:173-84. [PMID: 20470762 PMCID: PMC2900444 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.05.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2010] [Accepted: 05/04/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the contribution of frontal and parietal cortices to bottom-up and top-down visual attention using electrophysiological measures in humans. Stimuli consisted of triangles, each with a different color and orientation. Subjects were presented with a sample triangle which served as the target for that trial. An array was subsequently presented with the target and three additional distractor stimuli, which were constructed to induce either automatic "pop-out" (50%) or effortful "search" (50%) behavior. For pop-out, both the color and orientation of the distractors differed from the target, which attracted attention automatically. For search, only the orientation of the distractors differed from the target, so effortful attention was required. Pop-out target detection generated a P300 event-related potential (ERP) with a peak amplitude over parietal sites whereas the search condition generated a fronto-centrally distributed P300. Reaction times and associated P300 latency in frontal areas were shorter for pop-out targets than for search targets. We used time-frequency analysis to compare pop-out and search conditions, within a 200-650 ms time-window and a 4-55 Hz frequency band. There was a double dissociation, with significantly increased power from 4 to 24 Hz in parietal areas for pop-out targets and increased power from 4 to 24 Hz in frontal regions for search targets. Taken together the ERP and time-frequency results provide evidence that the control of bottom-up and top-down attention depend on differential contributions from parietal and frontal cortices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Li
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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33
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Event-related potential correlates of declarative and non-declarative sequence knowledge. Neuropsychologia 2010; 48:2665-74. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2009] [Revised: 05/06/2010] [Accepted: 05/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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34
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Theta frequency band activity and attentional mechanisms in visual and proprioceptive demand. Exp Brain Res 2010; 204:189-97. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-010-2297-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2010] [Accepted: 05/06/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Talsma D, Coe B, Munoz DP, Theeuwes J. Brain structures involved in visual search in the presence and absence of color singletons. J Cogn Neurosci 2010; 22:761-74. [PMID: 19309291 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
It is still debated to what degree top-down and bottom-up driven attentional control processes are subserved by shared or by separate mechanisms. Interactions between these attentional control forms were investigated using a rapid event-related fMRI design, using an attentional search task. Following a prestimulus mask, target stimuli (consisting of a letter C or a mirror image of the C, enclosed in a diamond outline) were presented either at one unique location among three nontarget items (consisting of a random letter, enclosed in a circle outline; 50% probability), or at all four possible target locations (also 50% probability). On half the trials, irrelevant color singletons were presented, consisting of a color change of one of the four prestimulus masks, just prior to target appearance. Participants were required to search for a target letter inside the diamond and report its orientation. Results indicate that, in addition to a common network of parietal areas, medial frontal cortex is uniquely involved in top-down orienting, whereas bottom-up control is mainly subserved by a network of occipital and parietal areas. Additionally, we found that participants who were better able to suppress orienting to the color singleton showed middle frontal gyrus activation, and that the degree of top-down control correlated with insular activity. We conclude that, in addition to a common set of parietal areas, separate brain areas are involved in top-down and bottom-up driven attentional control, and that frontal areas play a role in the suppression of attentional capture by an irrelevant color singleton.
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Smith DV, Davis B, Niu K, Healy EW, Bonilha L, Fridriksson J, Morgan PS, Rorden C. Spatial attention evokes similar activation patterns for visual and auditory stimuli. J Cogn Neurosci 2010; 22:347-61. [PMID: 19400684 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies suggest that a fronto-parietal network is activated when we expect visual information to appear at a specific spatial location. Here we examined whether a similar network is involved for auditory stimuli. We used sparse fMRI to infer brain activation while participants performed analogous visual and auditory tasks. On some trials, participants were asked to discriminate the elevation of a peripheral target. On other trials, participants made a nonspatial judgment. We contrasted trials where the participants expected a peripheral spatial target to those where they were cued to expect a central target. Crucially, our statistical analyses were based on trials where stimuli were anticipated but not presented, allowing us to directly infer perceptual orienting independent of perceptual processing. This is the first neuroimaging study to use an orthogonal-cuing paradigm (with cues predicting azimuth and responses involving elevation discrimination). This aspect of our paradigm is important, as behavioral cueing effects in audition are classically only observed when participants are asked to make spatial judgments. We observed similar fronto-parietal activation for both vision and audition. In a second experiment that controlled for stimulus properties and task difficulty, participants made spatial and temporal discriminations about musical instruments. We found that the pattern of brain activation for spatial selection of auditory stimuli was remarkably similar to what we found in our first experiment. Collectively, these results suggest that the neural mechanisms supporting spatial attention are largely similar across both visual and auditory modalities.
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37
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Brignani D, Lepsien J, Rushworth MFS, Nobre AC. The timing of neural activity during shifts of spatial attention. J Cogn Neurosci 2010; 21:2369-83. [PMID: 19199414 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2008.21176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
We developed a new experimental task to investigate the relative timing of neural activity during shifts of spatial attention with event-related potentials. The task enabled the investigation of nonlateralized as well as lateralized neural activity associated with spatial shifts. Participants detected target stimuli within one of two peripheral streams of visual letters. Colored letters embedded within the streams indicated which stream was to be used for target detection, signaling that participants should "hold" or "shift" their current focus of spatial attention. A behavioral experiment comparing performance in these focused-attention conditions with performance in a divided-attention condition confirmed the efficacy of the spatial cues. Another behavioral experiment showed that overt shifts of spatial attention were mainly complete by around 400 msec, placing an upper boundary for isolating neural activity that was instrumental in controlling spatial shifts. Event-related potentials recorded during a covert version of the focused-attention task showed a large amount of nonlateralized neural activity associated with spatial shifts, with significant effects starting around 330 msec. The effects started over posterior scalp regions, where they remained pronounced. Transient effects were also observed over frontal scalp regions. The results are compatible with a pivotal role of posterior parietal areas in initiating shifts of spatial attention.
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38
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Qu Z, Song Y, Ding Y. ERP evidence for distinct mechanisms of fast and slow visual perceptual learning. Neuropsychologia 2010; 48:1869-74. [PMID: 20080117 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2009] [Revised: 12/31/2009] [Accepted: 01/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Perceptual learning (PL) occurs not only within the first training session but also between sessions. Once acquired, the learning effects can last for a long time. By examining the time course of learning-associated ERP changes, this study explores whether fast and slow visual PL contribute to long-term preservation. Subjects first participated in a visual task for three training sessions, and were then given one test session six months later. ERP results showed that fast learning effects, as reflected by the decrement of posterior N1 and increment of posterior P2 within session 1, were preserved in session 3 but not in the test session. However, slow learning effects, as reflected by the increment of posterior N1 and decrement of frontal P170 between sessions 1 and 3, were retained completely in the test session. This study indicates that PL induces different changes in the human adult brain during and after active training, and only the delayed changes of brain activity can be preserved for a long period of six months.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Qu
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
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Kelly SP, Gomez-Ramirez M, Foxe JJ. The strength of anticipatory spatial biasing predicts target discrimination at attended locations: a high-density EEG study. Eur J Neurosci 2009; 30:2224-34. [PMID: 19930401 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06980.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Cueing relevant spatial locations in advance of a visual target results in modulated processing of that target as a consequence of anticipatory attentional deployment, the neural signatures of which remain to be fully elucidated. A set of electrophysiological processes has been established as candidate markers of the invocation and maintenance of attentional bias in humans. These include spatially-selective event-related potential (ERP) components over the lateral parietal (around 200-300 ms post-cue), frontal (300-500 ms) and ventral visual (> 500 ms) cortex, as well as oscillatory amplitude changes in the alpha band (8-14 Hz). Here, we interrogated the roles played by these anticipatory processes in attentional orienting by testing for links with subsequent behavioral performance. We found that both target discriminability (d') and reaction times were significantly predicted on a trial-by-trial basis by lateralization of alpha-band amplitude in the 500 ms preceding the target, with improved speed and accuracy resulting from a greater relative decrease in alpha over the contralateral visual cortex. Reaction time was also predicted by a late posterior contralateral positivity in the broad-band ERP in the same time period, but this did not influence d'. In a further analysis we sought to identify the control signals involved in generating the anticipatory bias, by testing earlier broad-band ERP amplitude for covariation with alpha lateralization. We found that stronger alpha biasing was associated with a greater bilateral frontal positivity at approximately 390 ms but not with differential amplitude across hemispheres in any time period. Thus, during the establishment of an anticipatory spatial bias, while the expected target location is strongly encoded in lateralized activity in parietal and frontal areas, a distinct non-spatial control process seems to regulate the strength of the bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon P Kelly
- The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia, Orangeburg, NY, USA.
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Dell'Acqua R, Sessa P, Toffanin P, Luria R, Jolicoeur P. Orienting attention to objects in visual short-term memory. Neuropsychologia 2009; 48:419-28. [PMID: 19804791 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.09.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2009] [Accepted: 09/27/2009] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
We measured electroencephalographic activity during visual search of a target object among objects available to perception or among objects held in visual short-term memory (VSTM). For perceptual search, a single shape was shown first (pre-cue) followed by a search-array, and the task was to decide whether the pre-cue was or was not in the search-array. For search of VSTM, a search-array was shown first followed by a single shape (post-cue), and the task was to decide whether the post-cue was or was not in the previously displayed search-array. We focused on early lateralized electrical brain activity over posterior and temporal areas time-locked to search-arrays in pre-cue trials and to post-cues in post-cue trials. In Experiment 1, search-arrays were composed of two lateralized shapes, displayed in the upper/lower two quadrants of the monitor. In Experiment 2, search-arrays were composed of four shapes, displayed at the corners of an imaginary square centered on fixation. In pre-cue trials, we observed an N2pc of about equal amplitude and latency for search-arrays composed of two or four shapes. In post-cue trials, we observed N2pc-like activity with search-arrays composed of two shapes, that was however substantially attenuated with search-arrays composed of four shapes. For many aspects, attending to a perceptual object was functionally and neurally analogous to attending to an object held in VSTM, suggesting that spatial selective attention biases search of objects during both ongoing perception and retention.
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Executive function and attention are preserved in older surgically menopausal monkeys receiving estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone. J Neurosci 2009; 29:10362-70. [PMID: 19692611 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1591-09.2009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal models of menopause have been used to further define the cognitive processes that respond to hormone therapy and to investigate parameters that may influence the cognitive effects of estrogen. Many investigations in animals have focused on memory; however, the effects of hormone therapy on executive function and attention processes have not been well studied. Thus, the purpose of this set of investigations was to assess the effects of estrogen therapy alone or with progesterone on executive and attention processes in middle-aged ovariectomized monkeys. Monkeys were preoperatively trained on a modified version of the Wisconsin card sort task and on a visual cued reaction time task. Hormone therapy was initiated at the time of ovariectomy and cognitive function was reassessed at 2, 12, and 24 weeks postoperatively. Relative to monkeys receiving either of the estrogen therapies, monkeys receiving placebo were impaired in their ability to shift a cognitive set in the Wisconsin card sort task and were impaired in shifting visuospatial attention in the visual cued reaction time task. Our findings are consistent with clinical studies that indicate that hormone therapy can improve executive function and attention processes in postmenopausal women.
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42
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Attentional and sensory effects of lowered levels of intrinsic alertness. Neuropsychologia 2009; 47:3255-64. [PMID: 19682470 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2009] [Revised: 07/19/2009] [Accepted: 08/05/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Low levels of intrinsic alertness are associated with lateralized performance in visual tasks, similar to neglect of the left (ipsilesional) visual hemi-field. However, it is unclear whether reduced alertness produces a specific lateralization of spatial-attentional processes in terms of the prioritization of right- over left-side stimuli, or whether it affects more basic functions of visuo-sensory coding, and/or higher function of the top-down control of selection, of stimuli on the left side. To decide between these alternatives, the present study examined the effects of lowered alertness, induced by a 50-min vigilance task, in a partial-report paradigm of briefly presented letter displays. With only one (unilateral) stimulus in display, no specific hemi-field effects were found under low-alertness conditions, indicating that reduced alertness impairs neither sensory effectiveness nor the top-town control of selection. However, with dual, bilateral stimuli, report accuracy was specifically affected for left-side targets (in subjects who showed comparable performance for both sides under normal-alertness conditions). This pattern can be interpreted in terms of a specific bias in spatial-attentional weighting, where prioritization of stimuli on the right leads to (mild) extinction of targets on the left. Moreover, participants who had a lower general level of alertness also showed a more pronounced re-distribution of weights, evidenced by a more severe imbalance in report accuracy, in a low compared to a normal state of alertness. This suggests that a low general level of intrinsic alertness engenders a specific vulnerability to neglect-like performance with a (mild) left-side extinction.
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43
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Geng JJ, Mangun GR. Anterior Intraparietal Sulcus is Sensitive to Bottom–Up Attention Driven by Stimulus Salience. J Cogn Neurosci 2009; 21:1584-601. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Frontal eye fields (FEF) and anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS) are involved in the control of voluntary attention in humans, but their functional differences remain poorly understood. We examined the activity in these brain regions as a function of task-irrelevant changes in target and nontarget perceptual salience during a sustained spatial attention task. Both aIPS and FEF were engaged during selective attention. FEF, but not aIPS, was sensitive to the direction of spatial attention. Conversely, aIPS, but not FEF, was modulated by the relative perceptual salience of the target and nontarget stimuli. These results demonstrate separable roles for FEF and aIPS in attentional control with FEF more involved in goal-directed spatial attention and aIPS relatively more sensitive to bottom–up attentional influences driven by stimulus salience.
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44
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White LK, Helfinstein SM, Reeb-Sutherland BC, Degnan KA, Fox NA. Role of attention in the regulation of fear and anxiety. Dev Neurosci 2009; 31:309-17. [PMID: 19546568 PMCID: PMC5079098 DOI: 10.1159/000216542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2009] [Accepted: 01/03/2009] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotion regulation makes use of specific aspects of attention and executive functions that are critical for the development of adaptive social functioning, and perturbations in these processes can result in maladaptive behavior and psychopathology. Both involuntary and voluntary attention processes have been examined at both the behavioral and the neural levels and are implicated in the maintenance of fearful or anxious behaviors. However, relatively little is known about how these attention processes come to influence emotional behavior across development. The current review summarizes the extant literature on the links between voluntary and involuntary attention processes and the role that these attention processes have in the etiology, maintenance, and regulation of anxious behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Nathan A. Fox
- Department of Human Development, University of Maryland, College Park, Md., USA
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45
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Browne C, Tobin JR, Voytko ML. Effects of two years of conjugated equine estrogens on cholinergic neurons in young and middle-aged ovariectomized monkeys. Brain Res 2009; 1264:13-23. [PMID: 19401167 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2008] [Revised: 01/09/2009] [Accepted: 01/11/2009] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The effect of estrogen on the number and size of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain was examined in surgically menopausal young and middle-aged cynomolgus monkeys. Young and middle-aged female monkeys were ovariectomized and treated with conjugated equine estrogens (Premarin) at doses that are equivalent to those currently prescribed to postmenopausal women. In the medial septum/diagonal band (MS/DB), no effect of treatment with Premarin was observed in the cholinergic neurons in either ovariectomized young or middle-aged monkeys. However, the number and size of cholinergic neurons in the MS/DB of middle-aged monkeys was greater than that in the young monkeys. In the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) of middle-aged monkeys, the number of cholinergic neurons in the intermediate region (Ch4i) was greater in Premarin-treated monkeys as compared to controls and numbers of neurons in this region were greater at higher levels of estrogen. No effects of estrogen were observed in other NBM regions in the middle-aged monkeys and the size of cholinergic neurons was unaffected by Premarin. These findings suggest that treatment with Premarin has selective beneficial effects on cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain but that these effects are both age and region specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carole Browne
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, USA
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46
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Matsuka T, Corter JE. Observed attention allocation processes in category learning. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2008; 61:1067-97. [PMID: 18938284 DOI: 10.1080/17470210701438194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
In two empirical studies of attention allocation during category learning, we investigate the idea that category learners learn to allocate attention optimally across stimulus dimensions. We argue that "optimal" patterns of attention allocation are model or process specific, that human learners do not always optimize attention, and that one reason they fail to do so is that under certain conditions the cost of information retrieval or use may affect the attentional strategy adopted by learners. We empirically investigate these issues using a computer interface incorporating an "information-board" display that collects detailed information on participants' patterns of attention allocation and information search during learning trials. Experiment 1 investigated the effects on attention allocation of distributing perfectly diagnostic features across stimulus dimensions versus within one dimension. The overall pattern of viewing times supported the optimal attention allocation hypothesis, but a more detailed analysis produced evidence of instance- or category-specific attention allocation, a phenomenon not predicted by prominent computational models of category learning. Experiment 2 investigated the strategies adopted by category learners encountering redundant perfectly predictive cues. Here, the majority of participants learned to distribute attention optimally in a cost-benefit sense, allocating attention primarily to only one of the two perfectly predictive dimensions. These results suggest that learners may take situational costs and benefits into account, and they present challenges for computational models of learning that allocate attention by weighting stimulus dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshihiko Matsuka
- Howe School of Technology Management, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA
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47
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Mozolic JL, Joyner D, Hugenschmidt CE, Peiffer AM, Kraft RA, Maldjian JA, Laurienti PJ. Cross-modal deactivations during modality-specific selective attention. BMC Neurol 2008; 8:35. [PMID: 18817554 PMCID: PMC2569962 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2377-8-35] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2008] [Accepted: 09/25/2008] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Processing stimuli in one sensory modality is known to result in suppression of other sensory-specific cortices. Additionally, behavioral experiments suggest that the primary consequence of paying attention to a specific sensory modality is poorer task performance in the unattended sensory modality. This study was designed to determine how focusing attention on the auditory or visual modality impacts neural activity in cortical regions responsible for processing stimuli in the unattended modality. Methods Functional MRI data were collected in 15 participants who completed a cued detection paradigm. This task allowed us to assess the effects of modality-specific attention both during the presence and the absence of targets in the attended modality. Results The results of this experiment demonstrate that attention to a single sensory modality can result in decreased activity in cortical regions that process information from an unattended sensory modality (cross-modal deactivations). The effects of attention are likely additive with stimulus-driven effects with the largest deactivations being observed during modality-specific selective attention, in the presence of a stimulus in that modality. Conclusion Modality-specific selective attention results in behavioral decrements in unattended sensory modalities. The imaging results presented here provide a neural signature (cross-modal deactivation) for modality-specific selective attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Mozolic
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
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48
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Solbakk AK, Fuhrmann Alpert G, Furst AJ, Hale LA, Oga T, Chetty S, Pickard N, Knight RT. Altered prefrontal function with aging: insights into age-associated performance decline. Brain Res 2008; 1232:30-47. [PMID: 18691562 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2008.07.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2008] [Revised: 07/06/2008] [Accepted: 07/07/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
We examined the effects of aging on visuo-spatial attention. Participants performed a bi-field visual selective attention task consisting of infrequent target and task-irrelevant novel stimuli randomly embedded among repeated standards in either attended or unattended visual fields. Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses to the different classes of stimuli were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The older group had slower reaction times to targets, and committed more false alarms but had comparable detection accuracy to young controls. Attended target and novel stimuli activated comparable widely distributed attention networks, including anterior and posterior association cortex, in both groups. The older group had reduced spatial extent of activation in several regions, including prefrontal, basal ganglia, and visual processing areas. In particular, the anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus showed more restricted activation in older compared with young adults across all attentional conditions and stimulus categories. The spatial extent of activations correlated with task performance in both age groups, but the regional pattern of association between hemodynamic responses and behavior differed between the groups. Whereas the young subjects relied on posterior regions, the older subjects engaged frontal areas. The results indicate that aging alters the functioning of neural networks subserving visual attention, and that these changes are related to cognitive performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Kristin Solbakk
- Department of Psychology and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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49
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Tomita H, Fujiwara K. Effects of allocation of visuo-spatial attention to visual stimuli triggering unilateral arm abduction on anticipatory postural control. Clin Neurophysiol 2008; 119:2086-97. [PMID: 18620907 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2008] [Revised: 04/10/2008] [Accepted: 05/08/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We investigated the effects of allocation of visuo-spatial attention to visual stimuli triggering arm movement on anticipatory postural control. METHODS Fourteen healthy right-handed subjects participated in the study. Visual stimuli were randomly presented to the left or right visual field on a screen. An attention-directing cue or a non-directional cue was presented at 1000ms before visual stimulus onset. Subjects focused or divided visuo-spatial attention (focused- and divided-attention conditions, respectively) based on types of cues, and abducted the left or right arm rapidly in response to target stimuli (with 30% probability of visual stimuli) according to the side of presentation. Peak-to-peak amplitude of P1 and N1 components of event-related potentials (P1-N1 amplitude) elicited by visual stimuli and activation timing of postural muscles with respect to the middle deltoid were measured. RESULTS Compared with divided-attention condition, in focused-attention condition P1-N1 amplitude at occipital electrodes was enhanced and activation of the left hip abductors during right arm abduction was hastened. A significant correlation was observed between the attention-related changes in these two measurements. CONCLUSIONS Anticipatory postural control during right arm abduction was influenced by attention-related modulation of sensory-perceptual processing. SIGNIFICANCE These findings are important for understanding of the effects of visuo-spatial attention on anticipatory postural control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hidehito Tomita
- Department of Human Movement and Health, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan
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50
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Mander BA, Reid KJ, Davuluri VK, Small DM, Parrish TB, Mesulam MM, Zee PC, Gitelman DR. Sleep deprivation alters functioning within the neural network underlying the covert orienting of attention. Brain Res 2008; 1217:148-56. [PMID: 18511023 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2008.04.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2007] [Revised: 02/22/2008] [Accepted: 04/02/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
One function of spatial attention is to enable goal-directed interactions with the environment through the allocation of neural resources to motivationally relevant parts of space. Studies have shown that responses are enhanced when spatial attention is predictively biased towards locations where significant events are expected to occur. Previous studies suggest that the ability to bias attention predictively is related to posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activation [Small, D.M., et al., 2003. The posterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex mediate the anticipatory allocation of spatial attention. Neuroimage 18, 633-41]. Sleep deprivation (SD) impairs selective attention and reduces PCC activity [Thomas, M., et al., 2000. Neural basis of alertness and cognitive performance impairments during sleepiness. I. Effects of 24 h of sleep deprivation on waking human regional brain activity. J. Sleep Res. 9, 335-352]. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that SD would affect PCC function and alter the ability to predictively allocate spatial attention. Seven healthy, young adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) following normal rest and 34-36 h of SD while performing a task in which attention was shifted in response to peripheral targets preceded by spatially informative (valid), misleading (invalid), or uninformative (neutral) cues. When rested, but not when sleep-deprived, subjects responded more quickly to targets that followed valid cues than those after neutral or invalid cues. Brain activity during validly cued trials with a reaction time benefit was compared to activity in trials with no benefit. PCC activation was greater during trials with a reaction time benefit following normal rest. In contrast, following SD, reaction time benefits were associated with activation in the left intraparietal sulcus, a region associated with receptivity to stimuli at unexpected locations. These changes may render sleep-deprived individuals less able to anticipate the locations of upcoming events, and more susceptible to distraction by stimuli at irrelevant locations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryce A Mander
- Department of Neurology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
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