scholarly journals The Microstructure of Attentional Control in the Dorsal Attention Network

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Abhijit Rajan ◽  
Sreenivasan Meyyappan ◽  
Yuelu Liu ◽  
Immanuel Babu Henry Samuel ◽  
Bijurika Nandi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Preparatory Attention ◽  
Dorsal Attention Network ◽  
Feature Attention ◽  
Command Signals

Abstract The top–down control of attention involves command signals arising chiefly in the dorsal attention network (DAN) in frontal and parietal cortex and propagating to sensory cortex to enable the selective processing of incoming stimuli based on their behavioral relevance. Consistent with this view, the DAN is active during preparatory (anticipatory) attention for relevant events and objects, which, in vision, may be defined by different stimulus attributes including their spatial location, color, motion, or form. How this network is organized to support different forms of preparatory attention to different stimulus attributes remains unclear. We propose that, within the DAN, there exist functional microstructures (patterns of activity) specific for controlling attention based on the specific information to be attended. To test this, we contrasted preparatory attention to stimulus location (spatial attention) and to stimulus color (feature attention), and used multivoxel pattern analysis to characterize the corresponding patterns of activity within the DAN. We observed different multivoxel patterns of BOLD activation within the DAN for the control of spatial attention (attending left vs. right) and feature attention (attending red vs. green). These patterns of activity for spatial and feature attentional control showed limited overlap with each other within the DAN. Our findings thus support a model in which the DAN has different functional microstructures for distinctive forms of top–down control of visual attention.

scholarly journals The Dorsal Attention Network Reflects Both Encoding Load and Top–down Control during Working Memory

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Majerus ◽  
Frédéric Péters ◽  
Marion Bouffier ◽  
Nelson Cowan ◽  
Christophe Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Large Sets ◽  
Dorsal Attention Network ◽  
Memory Control ◽  
And Control

The dorsal attention network is consistently involved in verbal and visual working memory (WM) tasks and has been associated with task-related, top–down control of attention. At the same time, WM capacity has been shown to depend on the amount of information that can be encoded in the focus of attention independently of top–down strategic control. We examined the role of the dorsal attention network in encoding load and top–down memory control during WM by manipulating encoding load and memory control requirements during a short-term probe recognition task for sequences of auditory (digits, letters) or visual (lines, unfamiliar faces) stimuli. Encoding load was manipulated by presenting sequences with small or large sets of memoranda while maintaining the amount of sensory stimuli constant. Top–down control was manipulated by instructing participants to passively maintain all stimuli or to selectively maintain stimuli from a predefined category. By using ROI and searchlight multivariate analysis strategies, we observed that the dorsal attention network encoded information for both load and control conditions in verbal and visuospatial modalities. Decoding of load conditions was in addition observed in modality-specific sensory cortices. These results highlight the complexity of the role of the dorsal attention network in WM by showing that this network supports both quantitative and qualitative aspects of attention during WM encoding, and this is in a partially modality-specific manner.

scholarly journals Hemifield-specific Correlations between Cue-related Blood Oxygen Level Dependent Activity in Bilateral Nodes of the Dorsal Attention Network and Attentional Benefits in a Spatial Orienting Paradigm

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 625-638
Author(s):  
Helen C. Mayrhofer ◽  
Felix Duecker ◽  
Vincent van de Ven ◽  
Heidi I. L. Jacobs ◽  
Alexander T. Sack
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Qualitative Difference ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Spatial Orienting ◽  
Dorsal Attention Network ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

The dorsal attention network (DAN) is known to be involved in shifts of spatial attention or in orienting. However, the involvement of each hemisphere in shifts to either hemifield is still a matter of debate. In this study, interindividual hemifield-specific attentional benefits in RTs were correlated with cue-related BOLD responses specific to directive cues in the left and right frontal and posterior nodes of the DAN, measured in a Spatial Orienting Paradigm. The pattern of correlations was analyzed with respect to its fit with three existing hypotheses of spatial attention control: the contralateral, right dominance, and hybrid hypotheses. Results showed that activation in frontal and parietal nodes of the DAN could explain a significant proportion of the interindividual variance in attentional benefits. Although we found that benefits in the right hemifield correlated with cue-related activity in the left, as well as the right, DAN and that the pattern of correlations fit best with the right dominance hypothesis, there were no significant correlations between left benefits and activation in the right (as well as left) DAN, which precludes the conclusion that our data support the right dominance hypothesis and might instead point toward a potential qualitative difference between leftward and rightward shifts of attention. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that behavioral effects of orienting can be linked to activation changes in the DAN, and it raises new questions with respect to the involvement of the frontal and parietal nodes in each hemisphere in hemifield-specific orienting.

scholarly journals New insights on the ventral attention network: Active suppression and involuntary recruitment during a bimodal task

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Solís-Vivanco ◽  
Ole Jensen ◽  
Mathilde Bonnefond
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Frequency Band ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Unexpected Events ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Dorsal Attention Network ◽  
Alpha Beta

ABSTRACTReorienting attention to unexpected events is essential in daily life. fMRI studies have revealed the involvement of the ventral attention network (VAN), including the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), in such process. In this MEG study with 34 participants (17 women) we used a bimodal (visual/auditory) attention task to determine the neuronal dynamics associated with suppression of the activity of the VAN during top-down attention and its recruitment when information from the unattended sensory modality is involuntarily integrated. We observed an anticipatory power increase of alpha/beta (12-20 Hz) oscillations in the VAN following a cue indicating the modality to attend. Stronger VAN power increases predicted better task performance, suggesting that the VAN suppression prevents shifting attention to distractors. Moreover, the TPJ was synchronized with the frontal eye field in that frequency band, suggesting that the dorsal attention network (DAN) might participate in such suppression. Furthermore, we found a 12-20 Hz power decrease, in both the VAN and DAN, when information of both sensory modalities was congruent, suggesting an involvement of these networks for attention capture. Our results show that effective multimodal attentional reorientation includes the modulation of the VAN and DAN through upper-alpha/beta oscillations. Altogether these results indicate that the suppressing role of alpha/beta oscillations might operate beyond sensory regions.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTReorienting attention to unexpected events from multiple sensory sources is essential in daily life. We explored the dynamics of the ventral attention network (VAN), a set of brain regions related to attentional reorienting, when relevant information was anticipated (i.e. during top-down attention) and when unexpected congruent information from another sensory modality was presented (involuntary attentional capture). We report that activity in the alpha/beta range (12-20 Hz) within the VAN indexed both top-down and attentional capture processes. Also, the VAN was synchronized with the dorsal attention network in this frequency band, suggesting an integrated role of both networks for attentional regulation. Our results shed light on the neurophysiological mechanisms that the brain carry out for reorienting attention to relevant environmental stimuli.

Can Self-Schemas Serve as Top-Down Attentional Control Settings

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles L. Folk ◽  
Deborah Kendzierski ◽  
Brad Wyble
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attentional Control Settings
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