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

Abstract

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.

Concurrent frontal and parietal network TMS for modulating attention

“…This is not surprising given the different subregions the IPS is composed of ( Scolari et al., 2015 ). If this was the case, the cortex-based alignment approach ( Duecker et al., 2013b ; Mayrhofer et al., 2019 ) was used to guide ROIs localization. Functional group data obtained from a cohort of participants who took part in a previous study ( Mayrhofer et al., 2019 ), in which they performed an attention task also known to activate the DAN (i.e.…”

“…Cognition is accomplished by the interaction of several regions in the brain which together form networks ( Cocchi et al., 2013 ; Sporns, 2013 ). The voluntary control of visuospatial attention is supported by the dorsal attention network (DAN), consisting primarily of the frontal eye field (FEF) in frontal cortex and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) in parietal cortex ( Corbetta and Shulman, 2002 ; Mayrhofer et al., 2019 ). Evidence has shown that these regions interactively modulate activity in visual cortices to achieve the preferential processing of (stimuli in) a particular part of our visual field ( Moore and Fallah, 2004 ; Noudoost et al., 2010 ).…”

“…The relevance of the DAN for attention processes has also been extensively confirmed in clinical populations, showing that lesions to either FEF or IPS impair performance on attention-orienting tasks ( Bartolomeo et al., 2012 ; Corbetta et al., 2005 ; Duncan et al., 1999 ; Karnath et al., 2002 ; Mesulam, 1999 ) and often lead to hemispatial neglect ( Corbetta et al., 2005 ). This syndrome is more commonly observed after impairment of the right hemisphere, thus suggesting right hemispheric dominance ( Duecker et al., 2013a ; Mayrhofer et al., 2019 ; Mesulam, 1981 ; Sack, 2010 ).…”

Self-reference Network-Related Interactions During the Process of Cognitive Impairment in the Early Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

“…(1) in the SN, in which right lateralization has been proven , the occurrence of connections with the SRN on the right side rather than the left side significantly reduced FC, especially in the right prefrontal cortex, and has been observed in subjective cognitive decline patients (Hu et al, 2017); (2) however, in the DAN, damage patterns (Zhang et al, 2015) and inhibition in the temporal region of the whole brain have been observed in MCI patients (Chand et al, 2018;, but evidence for lateralization remains debatable (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002;Vossel et al, 2012;Mayrhofer et al, 2019); and (3) in addition, the DMN also presented left lateralization but functional decline with age and AD (Banks et al, 2018), showing insufficient activation in the right prefrontal region but overactivation in the left prefrontal FIGURE 3 | The correlation between SRN-related interactions and cognitive functions in mild cognitive impairment patients. The interaction of the SRN with the left DAN was positively correlated with MCI patients' visual-spatial performance in the ECogPT test.…”

The balance of power

“…Specific regions working in synergy allow the accomplishment of different brain functions (Cocchi et al, 2013;Sporns, 2013). As previously mentioned, visuospatial attention specifically is supported by DAN network, consisting of the FEF in frontal cortex and the IPS in parietal cortex Mayrhofer et al, 2019). When voluntary shifts of attention occur, these regions interact and modulate activity in visual cortex, allowing the preferential processing of the attended stimuli .…”