Attentional Control Functions Research Articles

Correlation Among Behavior, Personality, and Electroencephalography Revealed by a Simulated Driving Experiment

Drivers play the most important role in the human-vehicle-environment system and driving behaviors are significantly influenced by the cognitive state of the driver and his/her personality. In this paper, we aimed to explore the correlation among driving behaviors, personality and electroencephalography (EEG) using a simulated driving experiment. A total of 36 healthy subjects participated in the study. The 64-channel EEG data and the driving data, including the real-time position of the vehicle, the rotation angle of the steering wheel and the speed were acquired simultaneously during driving. The Cattell 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) was utilized to evaluate the personalities of subjects. Through hierarchical clustering of the 16PF personality traits, the subjects were divided into four groups, i.e., the Inapprehension group, Insensitivity group, Apprehension group and the Unreasoning group, named after their representative personality trait. Their driving performance and turning behaviors were compared and EEG preprocessing, source reconstruction and the comparisons among the four groups were performed using Statistical Parameter Mapping (SPM). The turning process of the subjects can be formulated into two steps, rotating the steering wheel toward the turning direction and entering the turn, and then rotating the steering wheel back and leaving the turn. The bilateral frontal gyrus was found to be activated when turning left and right, which might be associated with its function in attention, decision-making and executive control functions in visual-spatial and visual-motor processes. The Unreasoning group had the worst driving performance with highest rates of car collision and the most intensive driving action, which was related to a higher load of visual spatial attention and decision making, when the occipital and superior frontal areas played a very important role. Apprehension (O) and Tension (Q4) had a positive correlation, and Reasoning (B) had a negative correlation with dangerous driving behaviors. Our results demonstrated the close correlation among driving behaviors, personality and EEG and may be taken as a reference for the prediction and precaution of dangerous driving behaviors in people with specific personality traits.

Trait Mindfulness and Functional Connectivity in Cognitive and Attentional Resting State Networks.

Mindfulness has been described as an orienting of attention to the present moment, with openness and compassion. Individuals displaying high trait mindfulness exhibit this tendency as a more permanent personality attribute. Given the numerous physical and mental health benefits associated with mindfulness, there is a great interest in understanding the neural substrates of this trait. The purpose of the current research was to examine how individual differences in trait mindfulness associated with functional connectivity in five resting-state networks related to cognition and attention: the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SN), the central executive network (CEN), and the dorsal and ventral attention networks (DAN and VAN). Twenty-eight undergraduate participants completed the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), a self-report measure of trait mindfulness which also provides scores on five of its sub-categories (Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-judging of Inner Experience, and Non-reactivity to Inner Experience). Participants then underwent a structural MRI scan and a 7-min resting state functional MRI scan. Resting-state data were analyzed using independent-component analyses. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to determine the relationship between each resting state network and each FFMQ score. These analyses indicated that: (1) trait mindfulness and its facets showed increased functional connectivity with neural regions related to attentional control, interoception, and executive function; and (2) trait mindfulness and its facets showed decreased functional connectivity with neural regions related to self-referential processing and mind wandering. These patterns of functional connectivity are consistent with some of the benefits of mindfulness—enhanced attention, self-regulation, and focus on present experience. This study provides support for the notion that non-judgmental attention to the present moment facilitates the integration of regions in neural networks that are related to cognition, attention, and sensation.

Differential impact of acute hypoxia on event related potentials: impaired task-irrelevant, but preserved task-relevant processing and response inhibition

The current study investigated how experimentally induced acute normobaric hypoxia affects attentional control functions during easy, monotonous visual sustained attention and response inhibition (modified Continuous Performance Task) and executive control tasks (number-size Stroop task). Along with behavioral efficiency, task-relevant and task-irrelevant information processing were investigated by measuring event related brain potentials (ERP) evoked by target stimuli (Target P3), task-relevant stimuli with no response needed (NoGo P3), and task-irrelevant novel stimuli (Novelty P3) during acute hypoxia exposure. Normobaric hypoxia was induced by adjusting the O2 content of the breathing mixture to obtain 80% peripheral oxygen saturation, equivalent of 5500 m above sea level. Here we report decreased Novelty P3 during acute normobaric hypoxia exposure, while Target P3 and NoGo P3, as well as behavioral efficiency remained intact. Our paper is the first to provide evidence for impaired novelty processing along with intact task-relevant information processing and response inhibition during normobaric hypoxic exposure.

A dynamic attentional control framework for understanding sleep deprivation effects on cognition.

The cognitive effects of sleep loss are often attributed to compromised functioning of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, compromised PFC functioning does not account for well-known effects of sleep deprivation on vigilance. Furthermore, the executive attentional control functions associated with the PFC show considerable variability in the effects of sleep deprivation. Evidence from neuroimaging suggests that sleep deprived people are sometimes able to maintain performance on cognitive tasks by increasing PFC activation of task-relevant circuits and by recruiting new circuits not typically involved in a particular cognitive operation. Still, little is known about how such compensatory processes work on a functional level, or what tradeoffs in processing they may entail. We propose a dynamic attentional control framework to bridge the gap between the evidence on sleep deprived neural circuits and cognitive task performance. We review evidence that shows that the pattern of preserved and compromised task performance can be understood in terms of sleep deprivation's influence on frontostriatal circuitry such that the ability to maintain task-relevant information in the focus of attention is relatively spared but the ability to update task-relevant information in response to changing circumstances is more negatively affected. This framework helps account for why some tasks are more affected by SD than others, and why individual differences in the effects of sleep deprivation are task-specific.

Effects of the experimental administration of oral estrogen on prefrontal functions in healthy young women.

17-Beta-estradiol (E2) stimulates neural plasticity and dopaminergic transmission in the prefrontal cortex, which is critically involved in attentional control, working memory, and other executive functions. Studies investigating E2's actions on prefrontally mediated behavior in the course of the menstrual cycle or during hormone replacement therapy are inconclusive, with numerous null findings as well asbeneficial and detrimental effects. The current study focused on the effect of E2 on attentional performance, as animal studies indicate that supraphysiological doses (i.e., above estrous cycle levels) of E2 have beneficial effects on measures of attention in female rodents. To translate these findings to humans, we administered 12mg E2-valerate or placebo orally to 34 naturally cycling women in the low-hormone early follicular phase using a randomized, double-blinded, pre-post design. Behavioral performance was tested twice during baseline and E2 peak, where E2 levels reached mildly supraphysiological levels in the E2 group. Aside from mainly prefrontally mediated tasks of attention, working memory, and other executive functions, we employed tasks of affectively modulated attention, emotion recognition, and verbal memory. E2 administration had a significant, but subtle negative impact on general processing speed and working memory performance. These effects could be related to an overstimulation of dopaminergic transmission. The negative effect of supraphysiological E2 on working memory connects well to animal literature. There were no effects on attentional performance or any other measure. This could be explained by different E2 levels being optimal for changing behavioral performance in specific tasks, which likely depends on the brain regions involved.

Relationship between Mindfulness / Attention Control Function and Mind Wandering / Emotion

Relationship between Mindfulness / Attention Control Function and Mind Wandering / Emotion

Out of focus – Brain attention control deficits in adult ADHD

Modern environments are full of information, and place high demands on the attention control mechanisms that allow the selection of information from one (focused attention) or multiple (divided attention) sources, react to changes in a given situation (stimulus-driven attention), and allocate effort according to demands (task-positive and task-negative activity). We aimed to reveal how attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects the brain functions associated with these attention control processes in constantly demanding tasks. Sixteen adults with ADHD and 17 controls performed adaptive visual and auditory discrimination tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Overlapping brain activity in frontoparietal saliency and default-mode networks, as well as in the somato-motor, cerebellar, and striatal areas were observed in all participants. In the ADHD participants, we observed exclusive activity enhancement in the brain areas typically considered to be primarily involved in other attention control functions: During auditory-focused attention, we observed higher activation in the sensory cortical areas of irrelevant modality and the default-mode network (DMN). DMN activity also increased during divided attention in the ADHD group, in turn decreasing during a simple button-press task. Adding irrelevant stimulation resulted in enhanced activity in the salience network. Finally, the irrelevant distractors that capture attention in a stimulus-driven manner activated dorsal attention networks and the cerebellum. Our findings suggest that attention control deficits involve the activation of irrelevant sensory modality, problems in regulating the level of attention on demand, and may encumber top-down processing in cases of irrelevant information.

Altered intra- and inter-network functional coupling of resting-state networks associated with motor dysfunction in stroke.

Motor functions are supported through functional integration across the extended motor system network. Individuals following stroke often show deficits on motor performance requiring coordination of multiple brain networks; however, the assessment of connectivity patterns after stroke was still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the changes in intra- and inter-network functional connectivity (FC) of multiple networks following stroke and further correlate FC with motor performance. Thirty-three left subcortical chronic stroke patients and 34 healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Eleven resting-state networks were identified via independent component analysis (ICA). Compared with healthy controls, the stroke group showed abnormal FC within the motor network (MN), visual network (VN), dorsal attention network (DAN), and executive control network (ECN). Additionally, the FC values of the ipsilesional inferior parietal lobule (IPL) within the ECN were negatively correlated with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scores (hand + wrist). With respect to inter-network interactions, the ipsilesional frontoparietal network (FPN) decreased FC with the MN and DAN; the contralesional FPN decreased FC with the ECN, but it increased FC with the default mode network (DMN); and the posterior DMN decreased FC with the VN. In sum, this study demonstrated the coexistence of intra- and inter-network alterations associated with motor-visual attention and high-order cognitive control function in chronic stroke, which might provide insights into brain network plasticity following stroke.

Attentional control deficits in social anxiety: Investigating inhibition and shifting functions using a mixed antisaccade paradigm

Background and objectivesAttentional control has recently been assumed to play a critical role in the generation and maintenance of threat-related attentional bias and social anxiety. The present study aimed to investigate whether socially anxious (SA) individuals show impairments in attentional control functions, particularly in inhibition and shifting. MethodsForty-two SA and 41 non-anxious (NA) participants completed a mixed antisaccade task, a variant of the antisaccade task that is used to investigate inhibition as well as shifting functions. ResultsThe results showed that, overall, SA participants had longer antisaccade latencies than NA participants, but the two groups did not differ in their antisaccade error rates. Moreover, in the single-task block, SA participants had longer latencies than NA participants for antisaccade but not prosaccade trials. In the mixed-task block, the SA participants had longer latencies than the NA participants for both task types. The two groups did not differ in their latency switch costs in the mixed-task blocks. LimitationsFirst, this study was conducted using a non-clinical sample of undergraduate students. Second, the antisaccade task measures primarily oculomotor inhibition. Third, this study did not include the measure of state anxiety to rule out the effects of state anxiety on the present findings. ConclusionsThis study suggests that SA individuals demonstrate diminished efficiency of inhibition function but show no significant impairment of shifting function. However, in the mixed-task condition, SA individuals may exhibit an overall reduction in processing efficiency due to the higher task difficulty.

Neural Correlates of Enhanced Visual Attentional Control in Action Video Game Players: An Event-Related Potential Study.

Action video game players (AVGPs) outperform non-action video game players (NAVGPs) on a range of perceptual and attentional tasks. Although several studies have reported neuroplastic changes within the frontoparietal networks of attention in AVGPs, little is known about possible changes in attentional modulation in low-level visual areas. To assess the contribution of these different levels of neural processing to the perceptual and attentional enhancements noted in AVGPs, visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 14 AVGPs and 14 NAVGPs during a target discrimination task that required participants to attend to rapid sequences of Gabor patches under either focused or divided attention conditions. AVGPs responded faster to target Gabors in the focused attention condition compared with the NAVGPs. Correspondingly, ERPs to standard Gabors revealed a more pronounced negativity in the time range of the parietally generated anterior N1 component in AVGPs compared with NAVGPs during focused attention. In addition, the P2 component of the visual ERP was more pronounced in AVGPs than in NAVGPs over the hemisphere contralateral to the stimulus position in response to standard Gabors. Contrary to predictions, however, attention-modulated occipital components generated in the low-level extrastriate visual pathways, including the P1 and posterior N1, showed no significant group differences. Thus, the main neural signature of enhanced perceptual and attentional control functions in AVGPs appears linked to an attention-dependent parietal process, indexed by the anterior N1 component, and possibly to more efficient higher-order perceptual processing, indexed by the P2 component.

Multiple cortical thickness sub-networks and cognitive impairments in first episode, drug naïve patients with late life depression: A graph theory analysis

BackgroundCoordinated and pattern-wise changes in large scale gray matter structural networks reflect neural circuitry dysfunction in late life depression (LLD), which in turn is associated with emotional dysregulation and cognitive impairments. However, due to methodological limitations, there have been few attempts made to identify individual-level structural network properties or sub-networks that are involved in important brain functions in LLD. MethodsIn this study, we sought to construct individual-level gray matter structural networks using average cortical thicknesses of several brain areas to investigate the characteristics of the gray matter structural networks in normal controls and LLD patients. Additionally, we investigated the structural sub-networks correlated with several clinical measurements including cognitive impairment and depression severity. ResultsWe observed that small worldness, clustering coefficients, global and local efficiency, and hub structures in the brains of LLD patients were significantly different from healthy controls. We further found that a sub-network including the anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior prefrontal cortex is significantly associated with attention control and executive function. The severity of depression was associated with the sub-networks comprising the salience network, including the anterior cingulate and insula. LimitationsWe investigated cortico-cortical connectivity, but omitted the subcortical structures such as the striatum and thalamus. ConclusionWe report differences in patterns between several clinical measurements and sub-networks from large-scale and individual-level cortical thickness networks in LLD.

Same Same But Different: Processing Words in the Aging Brain

Reading is not only one of the most appreciated leisure activities of the elderly but it clearly helps older people to maintain functional independence, which has a significant impact on life quality. Yet, very little is known about how aging affects the neural circuits of the processes that underlie skilled reading. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to systematically investigate the neural correlates of sublexical, orthographic, phonological and lexico-semantic processing in the aging brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we recorded brain activity of younger (N = 20; 22–35 years) and older (N = 38; 65–76 years) adults during letter identification, lexical decision, phonological decision and semantic categorization. Older and younger adults recruited an identical set of reading-related brain regions suggesting that the general architecture of the reading network is preserved across the lifespan. However, we also observed age-related differences in brain activity in the subcomponents of the reading network. Age-related differences were most prominent during phonological and orthographic processing possibly due to a failure of older adults to inhibit non-optimal reading strategies. Neural effects of aging were also observed outside reading-related circuits, especially in frontal midline regions. These regions might be involved because of their important role in memory, attention and executive control functions and their potential role in resting-state networks.

Dynamics of cognitive control: Theoretical bases, paradigms, and a view for the future.

Cognitive control (with the closely related concepts of attention control and executive function) encompasses the collection of processes that are involved in generating and maintaining appropriate task goals and suppressing task goals that are no longer relevant, as well as the way in which current goal representations are used to modify attentional biases to improve task performance. Here, we provide a comprehensive but nonexhaustive review of this complex literature, with an emphasis on the contributions made by techniques for studying human brain function. The review is divided into five sections: (a) overview and historical perspective of cognitive control, its subcomponent processes, and its neural substrate; (b) most common types of tasks used to assess and/or manipulate the level of control; (c) main research findings obtained with various imaging methodologies, with a focus on ERP data, and briefer overviews of oscillatory (event-related spectral perturbations) and fMRI data; (d) major theories of cognitive control; and (e) discussion of open questions regarding how to integrate the various dimensions of control, as well as the faster versus slower temporal dynamics informing this complex and multifaceted concept.

Altered attentional control strategies but spared executive functioning in chronic cannabis users

BackgroundCannabis use has increased rapidly in recent decades. The increase in cannabis use makes it important to understand the potential influence of chronic use on attentional control and other executive functions (EFs). Because cannabis is often used to reduce stress, and because stress can constrain attentional control and EFs, the primary goal of this study was to determine the joint effect of acute stress and chronic cannabis use on specific EFs. MethodsThirty-nine cannabis users and 40 non-users were assigned to either a stress or no stress version of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test. Participants then completed two cognitive tasks that involve EFs: (1) task switching, and (2) a novel Flexible Attentional Control Task. These two tasks provided assessments of vigilant attention, inhibitory control, top-down attentional control, and cognitive flexibility. Salivary cortisol was assessed throughout the study. ResultsReaction time indices showed an interaction between stress and cannabis use on top-down attentional control (p=0.036, np2=0.059). Follow-up tests showed that cannabis users relied less on top-down attentional control than did non-users in the no stress version. Despite not relying on top-down control, the cannabis users showed no overall performance deficits on the tasks. ConclusionsChronic cannabis users performed cognitive tasks involving EFs as well as non-users while not employing cognitive control processes that are typical for such tasks. These results indicate alterations in cognitive processing in cannabis users, but such alterations do not necessarily lead to global performance deficits.

Relationship between the experiences of musical activities, trait anxiety, and attention control function in university students

Relationship between the experiences of musical activities, trait anxiety, and attention control function in university students

Cortical and Subcortical Coordination of Visual Spatial Attention Revealed by Simultaneous EEG-fMRI Recording.

Visual spatial attention has been studied in humans with both electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) individually. However, due to the intrinsic limitations of each of these methods used alone, our understanding of the systems-level mechanisms underlying attentional control remains limited. Here, we examined trial-to-trial covariations of concurrently recorded EEG and fMRI in a cued visual spatial attention task in humans, which allowed delineation of both the generators and modulators of the cue-triggered event-related oscillatory brain activity underlying attentional control function. The fMRI activity in visual cortical regions contralateral to the cued direction of attention covaried positively with occipital gamma-band EEG, consistent with activation of cortical regions representing attended locations in space. In contrast, fMRI activity in ipsilateral visual cortical regions covaried inversely with occipital alpha-band oscillations, consistent with attention-related suppression of the irrelevant hemispace. Moreover, the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus covaried with both of these spatially specific, attention-related, oscillatory EEG modulations. Because the pulvinar's neuroanatomical geometry makes it unlikely to be a direct generator of the scalp-recorded EEG, these covariational patterns appear to reflect the pulvinar's role as a regulatory control structure, sending spatially specific signals to modulate visual cortex excitability proactively. Together, these combined EEG/fMRI results illuminate the dynamically interacting cortical and subcortical processes underlying spatial attention, providing important insight not realizable using either method alone.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Noninvasive recordings of changes in the brain's blood flow using functional magnetic resonance imaging and electrical activity using electroencephalography in humans have individually shown that shifting attention to a location in space produces spatially specific changes in visual cortex activity in anticipation of a stimulus. The mechanisms controlling these attention-related modulations of sensory cortex, however, are poorly understood. Here, we recorded these two complementary measures of brain activity simultaneously and examined their trial-to-trial covariations to gain insight into these attentional control mechanisms. This multi-methodological approach revealed the attention-related coordination of visual cortex modulation by the subcortical pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus while also disentangling the mechanisms underlying the attentional enhancement of relevant stimulus input and those underlying the concurrent suppression of irrelevant input.

Chinese Calligraphy Writing for Augmenting Attentional Control and Working Memory of Older Adults at Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Nonpharmacological intervention for individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) needs further investigation. Test efficacy of an eight-week Chinese calligraphy writing training course in improving attentional control and working memory. Ninety-nine participants with MCI were randomized into the eight-week calligraphy writing (n = 48) or control (tablet computer) training (n = 51). Outcomes of the interventions were attentional control, working memory, visual scan and processing speed. They were measured at baseline, post-training, and six-month follow-up. Calligraphy writing, when compared with control, significantly improved working memory as reflected from DST-Backward sequence (p = 0.009) and span scores (p = 0.002), and divided attention as reflected from CTT2 (p < 0.001), and at the post-training. The unique improvement in working memory (span: p < 0.001; sequence: p = 0.008) of the intervention group was also found at follow-up when comparing with those at baseline. Changes in the other outcome measures were not statistically significant. The findings provide support that Chinese calligraphy writing training for eight weeks using a cognitive approach would improve working memory and to a lesser extent attentional control functions of patients with early MCI. They also demonstrate the usefulness of using mind-and-body practice for improving specific cognitive functions.

Attentional Control and other Executive Functions

Current article aims to shed light on the reciprocal relation between attentional control and emotional regulation. More specifically, there is a verified relation between attention and cognitive, metacognitive and emotional processes, such as memory, perception, reasoning as well as inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, self-monitoring and positive moods. In addition, positive mood has been already reciprocally related to a broad attentional scope as well as to an increased cognitive flexibility. Future research should focus on the effects of attentional control on cognitive control processes, thereby, on individuals’ emotional regulation, as a whole. Evidently, an advanced research in the relation of attentional control and emotional regulation could develop a comprehensive methodology for counterbalancing the difficulties facing individuals with ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder or even depression.

Structural and Functional Abnormalities in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Focus on Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), characterized by developmentally inappropriate inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or a combination of both, is a major public health problem. Neuroimaging studies have revealed associations of these cognitive impairments with structural and functional deficits all over the brain. Existing findings are not fully consistent because of the heterogeneity of study samples and diversity of research techniques. In this study, we propose to utilize a multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach to study the structural and functional brain networks in children with ADHD-combined type (ADHD-C) with a focus on the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data from 32 children with ADHD-C and 32 group-matched controls were involved. Network-based statistic analysis of the rs-fMRI data revealed a disconnected functional network between the sgACC and multiple regions in the occipital lobe and cerebellum, whereas the DTI data showed disrupted white matter integrity in the subgenual cingulum bundle (sgCB). Post hoc region of interest (ROI)-based analyses showed significantly increased fluctuation of the spontaneous brain activity in the sgACC and higher radial diffusivity in the sgCB in the ADHD group. Both the rs-fMRI and DTI ROI-based measures were significantly correlated with clinical measures that examine behavioral capacities of attention and inhibitory control. Findings of this study suggest that functional alterations in the sgACC and white matter under development in the sgCB may impact each other, and together contribute to impaired attention and inhibitory control function in children with ADHD.

Are you able not to react to what you hear? Inhibition behavior measured with an auditory Go/NoGo paradigm

ABSTRACTIn everyday life people have to attend to, react to, or inhibit reactions to visual and acoustic cues. These abilities are frequently measured with Go/NoGo tasks using visual stimuli. However, these abilities have rarely been examined with auditory cues. The aims of our study (N = 106) are to develop an auditory Go/NoGo paradigm and to describe brain-healthy participants’ performance. We tested convergent validity of the auditory Go/NoGo paradigm by analyzing the correlations with other neuropsychological tasks assessing attentional control and executive functions. We also analyzed the ecological validity of the task by examining correlations of self-reported impulsivity. In the first step we found that the participants are able to differentiate correctly among several sounds and also to appropriately react or inhibit a certain reaction most of the times. Convergent validity was suggested by correlations between the auditory Go/NoGo paradigm and the Color Word Interference Test, Trail Making Test, and Modified Card Sorting Test. We did not find correlations with self-reported impulsivity. Overall, the auditory Go/NoGo paradigm may be used to assess attention and inhibition in the context of auditory stimuli. Future studies may adapt the auditory Go/NoGo paradigm with specific acoustic stimuli (e.g., sound of opening a bottle) in order to address cognitive biases in particular disorders (e.g., alcohol dependence).