Perspective: causes and functional significance of temporal variations in attention control

Agatha Lenartowicz,Mark S Cohen,Gregory V Simpson

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00381

Agatha Lenartowicz, Mark S Cohen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00381

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Abstract

Attention control describes the human ability to selectively modulate the plethora of sensory signals and internal thoughts. The neural systems of attention control have been studied extensively, warranted by the importance of this ability to daily functioning. Here, we consider an emerging theme in the study of attention control—slow temporal fluctuations. We posit that these fluctuations are functionally significant, and may reflect underlying interactions between the neural systems related to attention control. We explore thought experiments to generate different perspectives on landscapes created by the interactions between attention control networks and the sources of input to these control systems. We examine interactions of the fronto-parietal and the default mode networks in the context of internal cognition, and the noradrenergic modulatory projections in the context of arousal, and we consider the implications of these inter-network dynamics on attention states and attention disorders. Through these thought experiments we highlight the breadth of potential knowledge to be gained from the study of slow fluctuations in attention control.

Highlights

HUMAN NEUROSCIENCEPerspective: causes and functional significance of temporal variations in attention control
Several questions arises: are the apparent attention control symptoms mediated, at least in part, by an underlying deficit in arousal and, the sustaining or engaging of attention control (Huang-Pollock and Nigg, 2003; Huang-Pollock et al, 2005; Castellanos et al, 2006; Friedman-Hill et al, 2010)? Are the fluctuations in attention control within an individual related to interactions of FPN with the locus coeruleus (LC)-NE system? For instance, the fluctuations of attention control observed by Castellanos et al (2005), more pronounced in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had a period of approximately 15 s. Is this frequency correlated with the fluctuations of the LC-NE system in this group? Is the amplification of these fluctuations related to an aberration in the cellular properties of the neuromodulatory projections?. Our objective in this perspective is to highlight the significance of known fluctuations of attention control
We suggest that sources of these fluctuations consist of two categories, systemic and input, and that may they be thought of as interactions between FPN and other neural systems

Summary

HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE

Perspective: causes and functional significance of temporal variations in attention control. Integral to top-down biasing is the frontoparietal network (FPN, referred to as the “executive control network”) (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002; Dosenbach et al, 2006; Fox et al, 2006; Raichle, 2011), a network encompassing dorsal and medial prefrontal cortices and superior parietal cortices, that acts to distinguish attended from ignored signals (Ruff and Driver, 2006; Gazzaley et al, 2007; Capotosto et al, 2009) (Figure 1A, left panel) Recruitment of this system is thought to occur when multiple sensory signals compete for processing resources (Braver and Cohen, 2000; Botvinick et al, 2001; Miller and Cohen, 2001) and/or at the trigger of a salient orienting signal (e.g., novel or loud sound, such as a fire alarm; Posner and Petersen, 1990; Posner and Dehane, 1994). An input-based fluctuation would be defined as a misdirection of FPN activity relative to a desired goal, such as when

Fluctuation of attention control

CONCLUSION