Functional Interactions between Prefrontal and Visual Association Cortex Contribute to Top-Down Modulation of Visual Processing

Gazzaley, Adam; Rissman, Jesse; Cooney, Jeffrey W.; Rutman, Aaron M.; Seibert, Tyler M.; Clapp, Wesley C.; D’Esposito, Mark

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm113

Cited by 242 publications

(220 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Attention is assumed to act via bias signals from the prefrontal regions that, in return, modulate processing in extrastriate sensory cortex (Chadick & Gazzaley, 2011;Miller, Vytlacil, Fegen, Pradhan, & DʼEsposito, 2011;Gazzaley, Rissman, et al, 2007). Agerelated impairments in these top-down control circuitries are likely underlying the compromised selection during visual processing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Normal Aging Delays and Compromises Early Multifocal Visual Attention during Object Tracking

Störmer

Heekeren

et al. 2013

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Abstract■ Declines in selective attention are one of the sources contributing to age-related impairments in a broad range of cognitive functions. Most previous research on mechanisms underlying older adultsʼ selection deficits has studied the deployment of visual attention to static objects and features. Here we investigate neural correlates of age-related differences in spatial attention to multiple objects as they move. We used a multiple object tracking task, in which younger and older adults were asked to keep track of moving target objects that moved randomly in the visual field among irrelevant distractor objects. By recording the brainʼs electrophysiological responses during the tracking period, we were able to delineate neural processing for targets and distractors at early stages of visual processing (∼100-300 msec). Older adults showed less selective attentional modulation in the early phase of the visual P1 component (100-125 msec) than younger adults, indicating that early selection is compromised in old age. However, with a 25-msec delay relative to younger adults, older adults showed distinct processing of targets (125-150 msec), that is, a delayed yet intact attentional modulation. The magnitude of this delayed attentional modulation was related to tracking performance in older adults. The amplitude of the N1 component (175-210 msec) was smaller in older adults than in younger adults, and the target amplification effect of this component was also smaller in older relative to younger adults. Overall, these results indicate that normal aging affects the efficiency and timing of early visual processing during multiple object tracking. ■

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Normal Aging Delays and Compromises Early Multifocal Visual Attention during Object Tracking

Störmer

Heekeren

et al. 2013

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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“…The left PPA has been shown to be the most selective for scenes (20), and was used in all β-series correlations. The decision of the ROI voxel extent was based on the methodology of similar studies (13,(51)(52)(53) and was used to achieve a reasonable balance between regional specificity (diminished by the use of a larger cluster) and susceptibility to noise (a problem with smaller nodes).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deficit in switching between functional brain networks underlies the impact of multitasking on working memory in older adults

Clapp

Rubens²,

Sabharwal³

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

186

156

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Multitasking negatively influences the retention of information over brief periods of time. This impact of interference on working memory is exacerbated with normal aging. We used functional MRI to investigate the neural basis by which an interruption is more disruptive to working memory performance in older individuals. Younger and older adults engaged in delayed recognition tasks both with and without interruption by a secondary task. Behavioral analysis revealed that working memory performance was more impaired by interruptions in older compared with younger adults. Functional connectivity analyses showed that when interrupted, older adults disengaged from a memory maintenance network and reallocated attentional resources toward the interrupting stimulus in a manner consistent with younger adults. However, unlike younger individuals, older adults failed to both disengage from the interruption and reestablish functional connections associated with the disrupted memory network. These results suggest that multitasking leads to more significant working memory disruption in older adults because of an interruption recovery failure, manifest as a deficient ability to dynamically switch between functional brainnetworks.W orking memory (WM), the ability to store and manipulate information in the mind over brief periods of time, is critical for a wide variety of cognitive abilities and real life activities (1). It has been demonstrated that WM performance is negatively impacted by the presence of external stimuli that are outside the focus of our memory goals (2, 3). This interference occurs whether there is an attempt to ignore these stimuli (i.e., distractions), or attend to them as a component of a concurrent, secondary task (i.e., interruptions, or multitasking) (4). We recently showed that older adults experience a more negative impact by distraction on WM performance compared with younger adults, and an even greater impairment when multitasking (5). There is extensive literature indicating that older adults are highly susceptible to distraction and that this leads to impairment in performance (for review, see refs. 6 and 7). In terms of a greater impact of multitasking on WM in aging, this finding is consistent with the detrimental influence that multitasking has been shown to have on a wide range of activities in older individuals (8-10). Research directed at understanding the basis of age-related interference effects is becoming increasingly important, as older adults remain engaged in the work force later in life (11), which itself is evolving into a more demanding, high-interference environment (12).To explore the neural basis of age-related WM disruption by distractions, we previously conducted a series of experiments using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional MRI (fMRI) recordings. Functional MRI measures revealed that older individuals inappropriately direct excessive attention toward processing visual stimuli that are entirely irrelevant (i.e., distractions), and that this correlates with diminishe...

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“…In humans, recent studies have identified IPS as the key region for storage (5,(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), leaving the role of dlPFC uncertain (5,10). A general role of prefrontal cortex may be to provide top-down control to posterior regions (5,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Although dlPFC has been suggested to regulate capacity by filtering out distracters from vsWM (14), dlPFC activation in the absence of distracters indicates that top-down control might also be involved in the control of pure storage (2,5,10,11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanism for top-down control of working memory capacity

Edin

Klingberg²,

Johansson³

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

320

311

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Working memory capacity, the maximum number of items that we can transiently store in working memory, is a good predictor of our general cognitive abilities. Neural activity in both dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex has been associated with memory retention during visuospatial working memory tasks. The parietal cortex is thought to store the memories. However, the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a top-down control area, during pure information retention is debated, and the mechanisms regulating capacity are unknown. Here, we propose that a major role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in working memory is to boost parietal memory capacity. Furthermore, we formulate the boosting mechanism computationally in a biophysical cortical microcircuit model and derive a simple, explicit mathematical formula relating memory capacity to prefrontal and parietal model parameters. For physiologically realistic parameter values, lateral inhibition in the parietal cortex limits mnemonic capacity to a maximum of 2-7 items. However, at high loads inhibition can be counteracted by excitatory prefrontal input, thus boosting parietal capacity. Predictions from the model were confirmed in an fMRI study. Our results show that although memories are stored in the parietal cortex, interindividual differences in memory capacity are partly determined by the strength of prefrontal top-down control. The model provides a mechanistic framework for understanding topdown control of working memory and specifies two different contributions of prefrontal and parietal cortex to working memory capacity.computer model ͉ fMRI ͉ lateral inhibition ͉ prefrontal ͉ short-term memory ͉ parietal

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Functional Interactions between Prefrontal and Visual Association Cortex Contribute to Top-Down Modulation of Visual Processing

Cited by 242 publications

References 97 publications

Normal Aging Delays and Compromises Early Multifocal Visual Attention during Object Tracking

Normal Aging Delays and Compromises Early Multifocal Visual Attention during Object Tracking

Deficit in switching between functional brain networks underlies the impact of multitasking on working memory in older adults

Mechanism for top-down control of working memory capacity

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