Visual attention: Linking prefrontal sources to neuronal and behavioral correlates

Abstract

Attention is a means of flexibly selecting and enhancing a subset of sensory input based on the current behavioral goals. Numerous signatures of attention have been identified throughout the brain, and now experimenters are seeking to determine which of these signatures are causally related to the behavioral benefits of attention, and the source of these modulations within the brain. Here, we review the neural signatures of attention throughout the brain, their theoretical benefits for visual processing, and their experimental correlations with behavioral performance. We discuss the importance of measuring cue benefits as a way to distinguish between impairments on an attention task, which may instead be visual or motor impairments, and true attentional deficits. We examine evidence for various areas proposed as sources of attentional modulation within the brain, with a focus on the prefrontal cortex. Lastly, we look at studies that aim to link sources of attention to its neuronal signatures elsewhere in the brain.

The impact of type 1 diabetes on neural activity serving attention

“…Furthermore, the peak amplitude of the responses in the right paracentral lobule and the left anterior cingulate significantly correlated with disease duration in patients with type 1 diabetes. Previous studies of attention processing have implicated both alpha and theta activity in frontal and parietal regional recruitment, with anterior cingulate engagement associated with response competition and conflict monitoring, and parietal activity associated more with response representation for motor planning (Bunge et al, ; Clark, Squire, Merrikhi, & Noudoost, ; Fassbender, Foxe, & Garavan, ; Hazeltine et al, ). Furthermore, the paracentral lobule has previously been linked to shifts of attention (Grosbras, Laird, & Paus, ).…”

“…In the incongruent condition, the middle arrow pointed in the opposite direction of the surrounding arrows. The classic finding is an increase in reaction time in the incongruent relative to the congruent condition associated with response competition and conflict monitoring, and parietal activity associated more with response representation for motor planning (Bunge et al, 2002;Clark, Squire, Merrikhi, & Noudoost, 2015;Fassbender, Foxe, & Garavan, 2006;Hazeltine et al, 2000). Furthermore, the paracentral lobule has previously been linked to shifts of attention (Grosbras, Laird, & Paus, 2005).…”

Spatiotemporal oscillatory dynamics of visual selective attention during a flanker task

“…It has also been the topic of a number of neurocognitive reviews (Carrasco, 2011; Clark et al, 2015; Driver, 2001; Petersen and Posner, 2012), and a number of theories have been proposed. These theories include Feature-Integration Theory (Treisman and Gelade, 1980) and Attentional Engagement Theory (Duncan and Humphreys, 1992), among others, and while these theories have disagreed over particular details, they have generally agreed that the primary function of visual attention is to selectively process certain visual information within the larger visual field, while simultaneously blocking out distracting or unrelated stimuli (Carrasco, 2011; Driver, 2001).…”

“…Building on decades of behavioral work, studies using functional neuroimaging methods have begun to characterize how the processes of visual attentional selection are achieved through distributed processing across widespread cortical networks (Clark et al, 2015; Petersen and Posner, 2012). Two such networks include the dorsal attention network (DAN) and the ventral attention network (VAN).…”

Spatial working memory alters the efficacy of input to visual cortex

“…15). Owing to its oculomotor activity, the FEF has also been suggested as a source of motor signals driving the presaccadic enhancement or receptive field (RF) changes in posterior visual cortex1617.…”