Dissociable early attentional control mechanisms underlying cognitive and affective conflicts

Cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been hypothesized to reflect a failure of cortical control. In keeping with this hypothesis, some of the cognitive deficits in PD resemble those seen in patients with lesions in the lateral pFC, which has been associated with top–down attentional control. However, there is no direct evidence for a failure of top–down control mechanisms in PD. Here we fill this gap by demonstrating disproportionate control by bottom–up attention to dimensional salience during attentional set shifting. Patients needed significantly more trials to criterion than did controls when shifting to a low-salient dimension while, remarkably, needing significantly fewer trials to criterion than did controls when shifting to a high-salient dimension. Thus, attention was captured by bottom–up attention to salient information to a greater extent in patients than in controls. The results provide a striking reinterpretation of prior set-shifting data and provide the first direct evidence for a failure of top–down attentional control, resembling that seen after catecholamine depletion in the pFC.

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Attentional bias modification facilitates attentional control mechanisms: Evidence from eye tracking

Biological Psychology ◽

10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.12.002 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 104 ◽

pp. 139-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Nigel T.M. Chen ◽

Patrick J.F. Clarke ◽

Tamara L. Watson ◽

Colin MacLeod ◽

Adam J. Guastella

Keyword(s):

Eye Tracking ◽

Attentional Bias ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Attentional Bias Modification ◽

Bias Modification

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An approach to the psychobiology of personality disorders

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579403000506 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 1093-1106 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

MICHAEL I. POSNER ◽

MARY K. ROTHBART ◽

NATHALIE VIZUETA ◽

KATHLEEN M. THOMAS ◽

KENNETH N. LEVY ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personality Disorders ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Personality Development ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Emotional Involvement ◽

Individual Personality ◽

Cognitive Operations ◽

New Information ◽

Wide Range

Human variability in temperament allows a unique natural experiment where reactivity, self-regulation, and experience combine in complex ways to produce an individual personality. Personality disorders may result from changes in the way past memories filter new information in situations of emotional involvement with others. According to this view, disorders are specific to their initiating circumstances rather than a general difficulty that might extend to classes of information processing remote from triggers for the disorder. A different view suggests a more general deficit in attentional control mechanisms that might extend to a wide range of situations far from those related to the core abnormality. This paper outlines methods for examining these views and presents data from the study of borderline personality disorder, arguing in favor of high negative emotionality being combined with a deficit in an executive attentional control network. Because this attentional network has already been well described in terms of anatomy, the cognitive operations involved, development, chemical modulators, and effects of lesions and candidate genes, these findings may have implications for understanding the disorder and its treatment. We consider these implications in terms of a general approach to the study of personality development and its disorders.

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Monetary and non-monetary rewards reduce attentional capture by emotional distractors

10.26686/wgtn.12871307.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

AT Walsh ◽

David Podhortzer Carmel ◽

David Harper ◽

P Bolitho ◽

Georgina Grimshaw

Keyword(s):

Attentional Capture ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Monetary Reward ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Letter Identification ◽

Identification Task ◽

Monetary Rewards ◽

Accurate Performance

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Irrelevant emotional stimuli often capture attention, disrupting ongoing cognitive processes. In two experiments, we examined whether availability of rewards (monetary and non-monetary) can prevent this attentional capture. Participants completed a central letter identification task while attempting to ignore negative, positive, and neutral distractor images that appeared above or below the targets on 25% of trials. Distraction was indexed by slowing on distractor-present trials. Half the participants completed the task with no performance-contingent reward, while the other half earned points for fast and accurate performance. In Experiment 1, points translated into monetary reward, but in Experiment 2, points had no monetary value. In both experiments, reward reduced capture by emotional distractors, showing that even non-monetary reward can aid attentional control. These findings suggest that motivation encourages use of effective cognitive control mechanisms that effectively prevent attentional capture, even when distractors are emotional.

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Controlling the flow of interruption in working memory

10.1101/2020.09.08.288027 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nicole Hakim ◽

Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽

Edward Awh ◽

Edward K Vogel

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Spatial Attention ◽

Attentional Capture ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

New Information ◽

Contralateral Delay Activity ◽

Component Processes

AbstractVisual working memory (WM) must maintain relevant information, despite the constant influx of both relevant and irrelevant information. Attentional control mechanisms help determine which of this new information gets access to our capacity-limited WM system. Previous work has treated attentional control as a monolithic process–either distractors capture attention or they are suppressed. Here, we provide evidence that attentional capture may instead be broken down into at least two distinct sub-component processes: 1) spatial capture, which refers to when spatial attention shifts towards the location of irrelevant stimuli, and 2) item-based capture, which refers to when item-based WM representations of irrelevant stimuli are formed. To dissociate these two sub-component processes of attentional capture, we utilized a series of EEG components that track WM maintenance (contralateral delay activity), suppression (distractor positivity), item individuation (N2pc), and spatial attention (lateralized alpha power). We show that relevant interrupters trigger both spatial and item-based capture, which means that they undermine WM maintenance more. Irrelevant interrupters, however, only trigger spatial capture from which ongoing WM representations can recover more easily. This fractionation of attentional capture into distinct sub-component processes provides a framework by which the fate of ongoing WM processes after interruption can be explained.

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The development of attentional control mechanisms in multisensory environments

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100930 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 48 ◽

pp. 100930

Author(s):

Nora Turoman ◽

Ruxandra I. Tivadar ◽

Chrysa Retsa ◽

Anne M. Maillard ◽

Gaia Scerif ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Attentional Control ◽

Control Mechanisms

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Differential attentional control mechanisms by two distinct noradrenergic coeruleo-frontal cortical pathways

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2015635117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (46) ◽

pp. 29080-29089

Author(s):

Andrea Bari ◽

Sangyu Xu ◽

Michele Pignatelli ◽

Daigo Takeuchi ◽

Jiesi Feng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Response Inhibition ◽

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Impulsive Behavior ◽

Pathological Conditions ◽

Neuron Activation ◽

Medial Pfc ◽

The Brain

The attentional control of behavior is a higher-order cognitive function that operates through attention and response inhibition. The locus coeruleus (LC), the main source of norepinephrine in the brain, is considered to be involved in attentional control by modulating the neuronal activity of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, evidence for the causal role of LC activity in attentional control remains elusive. Here, by using behavioral and optogenetic techniques, we investigate the effect of LC neuron activation or inhibition in operant tests measuring attention and response inhibition (i.e., a measure of impulsive behavior). We show that LC neuron stimulation increases goal-directed attention and decreases impulsivity, while its suppression exacerbates distractibility and increases impulsive responding. Remarkably, we found that attention and response inhibition are under the control of two divergent projections emanating from the LC: one to the dorso-medial PFC and the other to the ventro-lateral orbitofrontal cortex, respectively. These findings are especially relevant for those pathological conditions characterized by attention deficits and elevated impulsivity.

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Integrating Conflict Detection and Attentional Control Mechanisms

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21595 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (9) ◽

pp. 2211-2221 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Bong J. Walsh ◽

Michael H. Buonocore ◽

Cameron S. Carter ◽

George R. Mangun

Keyword(s):

Attentional Control ◽

Visual Information ◽

Performance Monitoring ◽

Conflict Detection ◽

Neural Systems ◽

Control Network ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Conflict Monitoring ◽

Detection Systems ◽

Increased Activity

Human behavior involves monitoring and adjusting performance to meet established goals. Performance-monitoring systems that act by detecting conflict in stimulus and response processing have been hypothesized to influence cortical control systems to adjust and improve performance. Here we used fMRI to investigate the neural mechanisms of conflict monitoring and resolution during voluntary spatial attention. We tested the hypothesis that the ACC would be sensitive to conflict during attentional orienting and influence activity in the frontoparietal attentional control network that selectively modulates visual information processing. We found that activity in ACC increased monotonically with increasing attentional conflict. This increased conflict detection activity was correlated with both increased activity in the attentional control network and improved speed and accuracy from one trial to the next. These results establish a long hypothesized interaction between conflict detection systems and neural systems supporting voluntary control of visual attention.

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Cross-Modal Interactions between Audition, Touch, and Vision in Endogenous Spatial Attention: ERP Evidence on Preparatory States and Sensory Modulations

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/089892902317236885 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 254-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 185

Author(s):

Martin Eimer ◽

José van Velzen ◽

Jon Driver

Keyword(s):

Visual Attention ◽

Spatial Attention ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Modal Interactions ◽

Directed Attention ◽

Brain Potential ◽

Auditory Erps ◽

Task Irrelevant ◽

Anterior Negativity

Recent behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) studies have revealed cross-modal interactions in endogenous spatial attention between vision and audition, plus vision and touch. The present ERP study investigated whether these interactions reflect supramodal attentional control mechanisms, and whether similar cross-modal interactions also exist between audition and touch. Participants directed attention to the side indicated by a cue to detect infrequent auditory or tactile targets at the cued side. The relevant modality (audition or touch) was blocked. Attentional control processes were reflected in systematic ERP modulations elicited during cued shifts of attention. An anterior negativity contralateral to the cued side was followed by a contralateral positivity at posterior sites. These effects were similar whether the cue signaled which side was relevant for audition or for touch. They also resembled previously observed ERP modulations for shifts of visual attention, thus implicating supramodal mechanisms in the control of spatial attention. Following each cue, single auditory, tactile, or visual stimuli were presented at the cued or uncued side. Although stimuli in task-irrelevant modalities could be completely ignored, visual and auditory ERPs were nevertheless affected by spatial attention when touch was relevant, revealing cross-modal interactions. When audition was relevant, visual ERPs, but not tactile ERPs, were affected by spatial attention, indicating that touch can be decoupled from cross-modal attention when task-irrelevant.

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Monetary and non-monetary rewards reduce attentional capture by emotional distractors

10.26686/wgtn.12871307 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

AT Walsh ◽

David Podhortzer Carmel ◽

David Harper ◽

P Bolitho ◽

Georgina Grimshaw

Keyword(s):

Attentional Capture ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Monetary Reward ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Letter Identification ◽

Identification Task ◽

Monetary Rewards ◽

Accurate Performance

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Irrelevant emotional stimuli often capture attention, disrupting ongoing cognitive processes. In two experiments, we examined whether availability of rewards (monetary and non-monetary) can prevent this attentional capture. Participants completed a central letter identification task while attempting to ignore negative, positive, and neutral distractor images that appeared above or below the targets on 25% of trials. Distraction was indexed by slowing on distractor-present trials. Half the participants completed the task with no performance-contingent reward, while the other half earned points for fast and accurate performance. In Experiment 1, points translated into monetary reward, but in Experiment 2, points had no monetary value. In both experiments, reward reduced capture by emotional distractors, showing that even non-monetary reward can aid attentional control. These findings suggest that motivation encourages use of effective cognitive control mechanisms that effectively prevent attentional capture, even when distractors are emotional.

Download Full-text