Evaluating the Role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Posterior Parietal Cortex in Memory-Guided Attention With Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Abstract

The contents of working memory (WM) can affect the subsequent visual search performance, resulting in either beneficial or cost effects, when the visual search target is included in or spatially dissociated from the memorized contents, respectively. The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) and the right posterior parietal cortex (rPPC) have been suggested to be associated with the congruence/incongruence effects of the WM content and the visual search target. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the PPC in controlling the interaction between WM and attention during a visual search, using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Subjects maintained a color in WM while performing a search task. The color cue contained the target (valid), the distractor (invalid) or did not reappear in the search display (neutral). Concurrent stimulation with the search onset showed that relative to rTMS over the vertex, rTMS over rPPC and rDLPFC further decreased the search reaction time, when the memory cue contained the search target. The results suggest that the rDLPFC and the rPPC are critical for controlling WM biases in human visual attention.

Multiscale Neural Modeling of Resting-state fMRI Reveals Executive-Limbic Malfunction as a Core Mechanism in Major Depressive Disorder

“…In the meantime, the EC from the left SPC to the right dlPFC switches from excitation in NC to inhibition in MDD, which might lead to diminished response in the right dlPFC. The SPC is involved in attending to perceptual cues in the environment (Vincent et al, 2008) and the dlPFC plays a pivotal role in attentional control and executive functioning (Elliott, 2003; Wang et al, 2018). Disrupted SPC and dlPFC activity may underlie biased attention for negative stimuli and impaired cognitive regulation of emotional processing in MDD (Fales et al, 2008; Beevers et al, 2010; Disner et al, 2011).…”

“…In the meantime, the EC from the left SPC to the right dlPFC switches from excitation in NC to inhibition in MDD, which might lead to diminished response in the right dlPFC. The SPC is involved in attending to perceptual cues in the environment (Vincent et al, 2008) and the dlPFC plays a pivotal role in attentional control and executive functioning (Elliott, 2003;Wang et al, 2018).…”

Transcranial magnetic stimulation over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulates visuospatial distractor suppression

“…Trials were excluded from analysis if the reaction times (RTs) fell outside the range of three standard deviations of mean RTs per condition (Experiment 1, 1.24%; Experiment 2, 1.03%), or the responses were incorrect (Experiment 1, 4.95%; Experiment 2, 2.52%). Using these criteria, there were 88.63 trials in 90.81 (Bardi et al, 2013;Bona et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2018). RTs, accuracy, and adjRTs were entered into a 2 (TMS Site: right DLPFC, Vertex) × 2 (Cueing: cued, uncued) × 2 (Distractor Color: white, colored) ANOVA with repeated measures.…”

“…The target site of the right DLPFC (Figure 1c; MNI coordinate, x, y, z = 42, 30, 41) was proposed to be related to distractor processing (Kehrer et al, 2015;Krueger et al, 2007). As the control site, the Vertex was located at the middlemost location of the head (Kalla et al, 2009;Kiyonaga et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2018). For the intensity of the rTMS, it is generally set relative to the motor threshold with the assumption that excitability in non-motor areas is similar to that of motor cortex (Ruohonen & Ilmoniemi, 2002;Stokes et al, 2005Stokes et al, , 2007.…”

Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over Prefrontal Cortex on Attention in Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review

“…Furthermore, we have included in this review only studies employing specific cognitive tests/tasks focusing on attention, even if working memory and other executive functions are strongly correlated with this cognitive domain. Indeed, the role of the right DLPFC and of the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in controlling the interaction between working memory and attention during a visual search has been explored using rTMS in a recent study [70]. Both the rDLPFC and the right PPC were found to be critical for controlling working memory biases in human visual attention.…”