Attention Network Task Research Articles

A child-focused version of the Attention Network Task designed to investigate interactions between the attention networks, including the endogenous orienting network

ABSTRACT A new variation of the Attention Network Task (ANT) was designed to measure the functioning of and interactions between the alerting, exogenous and endogenous visual spatial orienting, and executive control systems in young school children. Previous research has produced mixed results regarding typical functioning of the attention networks in six-year-olds; no ANT has measured the functioning of the endogenous network. This Staged ANT tested the Alerting, Exogenous, and Endogenous orienting networks in separate conditions. Two hundred and forty-seven children (average age 6 years, 103 girls) completed the task. There was no clear benefit of the alerting cue until the spatial orienting cues were introduced into the task, suggesting task complexity was needed before alerting benefits were observed. The validity effect of the exogenous cue was very strong: in contrast, the validity effect of the endogenous cue was very weak. The flanker effect was very strong. A benefit of the alerting cue was shown during both the exogenous and endogenous conditions, while a cost of the alerting cue was shown during the invalid exogenous trials. Neither the alerting nor validity effects interacted with the flanker effect. These results suggest that the alerting cue primes the exogenous and endogenous systems for the upcoming cues. Once the complexity of the task increases with the addition of the flankers, the alerting effect attenuates. The alerting and the two orienting networks interact together but the executive attention network acts independently, in children aged 6 years.

Association of Iron Status and Intake During Pregnancy with Neuropsychological Outcomes in Children Aged 7 Years: The Prospective Birth Cohort Infancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) Study.

Early iron status plays an important role in prenatal neurodevelopment. Iron deficiency and high iron status have been related to alterations in child cognitive development; however, there are no data about iron intake during pregnancy with other environmental factors in relation to long term cognitive functioning of children. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between maternal iron status and iron intake during pregnancy and child neuropsychological outcomes at 7 years of age. We used data from the INMA Cohort population-based study. Iron status during pregnancy was assessed according to serum ferritin levels, and iron intake was assessed with food frequency questionnaires. Working memory, attention, and executive function were assessed in children at 7 years old with the N-Back task, Attention Network Task, and the Trail Making Test, respectively. The results show that, after controlling for potential confounders, normal maternal serum ferritin levels (from 12 mg/L to 60 mg/L) and iron intake (from 14.5 mg/day to 30.0 mg/day), respectively, were related to better scores in working memory and executive functioning in offspring. Since these functions have been associated with better academic performance and adaptation to the environment, maintaining a good state of maternal iron from the beginning of pregnancy could be a valuable strategy for the community.

The influence of traumatic brain injury on the allocation of vertical spatial attention

ABSTRACTObjective: Research on impairments of spatial attention has primarily investigated hemispatial neglect in brain-lesioned patients, revealing decrements in the allocation of attention to right versus left egocentric or allocentric hemispace. Whereas head trauma might injure those parts of the brain that allocate vertical attention, little is known about the influence of trauma on the allocation of visuospatial attention in vertical space. Thus, the goal of this study was to learn if chronic moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (m/sTBI) alters the allocation of vertical visuospatial attention as assessed by the Attention Network Task (ANT). The ANT assesses the influence of Posner-type spatial cues and distractors using an Eriksen flanker task.Methods: 12 chronic m/sTBI patients and 12 demographically-matched neurologically-healthy controls (HCs) completed a version of the ANT wherein trials were coded for cue and target locations above and below central visual fixation. Trial-wise reaction times (RT) and accuracy were subjected to mixed-model ANOVAs and planned contrasts.Results: These data were subject to secondary analyses, which revealed that across groups, median RTs were significantly faster when targets occurred above than below the central visual fixation (p < .01); however, only HCs’ error rates differed as a function of target altitude. Unlike controls, m/sTBI survivors did not exhibit the anticipated upward error-rate attentional bias.Conclusions: As alteration of spatial attention can be a major cause of disability, present findings suggest that m/sTBI survivors exhibit this loss of normal upward attentional bias. Future studies are need to learn if these patients might benefit from treatment.

Pre-schoolers' visual perception and attention networks influencing naming speed: An individual difference perspective

Naming speed is considered to be one of the essential components used to predict reading capacity in school. The current study examined how visual perception and attention networks influence naming speed, and analyzed the relationship between visual perception and attention networks. The total number of participants was 163 Thai preschool children between the ages of five and seven years selected through multistage random sampling. Visual perception, attention networks, and naming speed were assessed using the Developmental Test of Visual Perception 3 (DTVP-3), Attention Network Task (ANT), and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to test naming speed hypotheses. The hypothesis of a causal model was supported by the evidence generated by this study. A direct positive association between both visual perception and attention networks to naming speed was observed. Compared with attention networks, visual perception had a higher significant effect on naming speed performance. Consequently, children who have higher visual perception are more likely to demonstrate a better naming speed performance. These results indicate that visual perception is strongly urged to naming speed, as doing so can help predict children's reading readiness before they start learning to read.

Congruency Effects in the Attention Network Task: The Influence of Stimulus Onset Asynchrony and Eye Movements

Congruency Effects in the Attention Network Task: The Influence of Stimulus Onset Asynchrony and Eye Movements

Dynamics of attentional bias for food in Dutch and Chinese children and the role of executive control

The current study examined the relationships among dynamics of attentional bias for food, executive control and adjusted BMI% among children. 106 Dutch (8-12 years old, 56.60% female) and 99 Chinese children (9-13 years old, 44.44% female) participated in the study. All participants first completed a self-report hunger questionnaire, and then the food dot-probe task and attention network task were administered. Both mean attentional bias and the variability of attentional bias were computed as people often experience the opposite goals to approach and avoid palatable food. We hypothesized that only the variability of attentional bias for food would be positively related to adjusted BMI%. In addition, such association would be moderated by the executive control, which would be also negatively related to adjusted BMI%. The results showed that adjusted BMI% was only positively associated with the variability of attentional bias for food in Dutch children. However, such association did not exist in Chinese children and executive control was not a significant moderator of the relation between the variability of attentional bias for food and adjusted BMI% in both Dutch and Chinese children. Unexpected, compared with Dutch children, Chinese children had stronger executive control, which was directly related to a lower adjusted BMI%. This study emphasized both TL-BS variability for food and executive control might have an effect on adjusted BMI%, in addition, culture possibly serve as a reason for the inconsistent results between Dutch and Chinese children.

A-22 Interference from Alcohol Stimuli Predicts Executive Control Performance in Alcohol Users

Abstract Objective To investigate cognitive impairments associated with binge drinking, 78 college undergraduates (ages 18 to 50, M = 21, SD = 5.23) were recruited and categorized into alcohol use groups based on their reported consumption patterns (non-drinking, social drinking, or binge drinking). Method Participants completed a modified Stroop task to examine differential interference between alcohol and neutral targets and an attention network task (ANT) to measure within and between group variance in attentional performance across the alerting, orienting, and executive control networks. Results There were no significant performance differences between alcohol use groups on either task. However, a significant negative association between alcohol Stroop interference and executive control performance was observed for both the binge and social drinking groups, β = .033, t(48) = 3.81, p &lt; .001, 95% CI [.016, .051]. This was a moderately large effect (η2p = .23) which was not significant for non-drinking individuals. Conclusions This experiment provides evidence that attentional interference from alcohol stimuli indicates broader executive control impairment in alcohol users, further illustrating the role of this domain in problematic drinking behaviors. Our findings affirm the significance of executive control assessment in the screening and treatment protocol for alcohol use disorders.

An information network flow approach for measuring functional connectivity and predicting behavior.

IntroductionConnectome‐based predictive modeling (CPM) is a recently developed machine‐learning‐based framework to predict individual differences in behavior from functional brain connectivity (FC). In these models, FC was operationalized as Pearson's correlation between brain regions’ fMRI time courses. However, Pearson's correlation is limited since it only captures linear relationships. We developed a more generalized metric of FC based on information flow. This measure represents FC by abstracting the brain as a flow network of nodes that send bits of information to each other, where bits are quantified through an information theory statistic called transfer entropy.MethodsWith a sample of individuals performing a sustained attention task and resting during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (n = 25), we use the CPM framework to build machine‐learning models that predict attention from FC patterns measured with information flow. Models trained on n − 1 participants’ task‐based patterns were applied to an unseen individual's resting‐state pattern to predict task performance. For further validation, we applied our model to two independent datasets that included resting‐state fMRI data and a measure of attention (Attention Network Task performance [n = 41] and stop‐signal task performance [n = 72]).ResultsOur model significantly predicted individual differences in attention task performance across three different datasets.ConclusionsInformation flow may be a useful complement to Pearson's correlation as a measure of FC because of its advantages for nonlinear analysis and network structure characterization.

P2‐459: EXECUTIVE CONTROL DEFICITS AS AN EARLY DIAGNOSTIC TO DEMENTIA OF ALZHEIMER'S TYPE

Dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) is marked by executive control deficit which allows monitoring and resolution of conflict between different stimuli and responses. The possible underlying cause of executive control deficit may be the dysfunction of inhibitory mechanisms due to the reduced availability of attentional resources early in the course of the disease. Literature have evidenced of deficit in executive control as an early diagnosis to DAT before memory impairment which indicate that as the disease progresses early onset of executive deficit may lead to conversion of patient with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) to DAT. The early diagnosis of DAT may reduce its devastating effects. The current research converging on executive control function as an earlier indicator of DAT in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at preclinical stage. The present study examined the executive control in attentional function among people with aMCI, mild and moderate levels of DAT compared with age-matched healthy controls (HC) by using the attentional network paradigm. The flanker paradigm of Attentional Network Task (ANT) was used to assess executive control effect. The reaction time and performance accuracy of the participants were recorded. The result showed that the inhibitory control function was less efficient in DAT as compared to HC. The aMCI group differed to mild and moderate DAT in response time measure. Further, the post-hoc analysis showed significantly slower performance of aMCI and mild DAT with HC group, the performance of patients with mild DAT was also significantly faster than moderate DAT, however, it was seen that aMCI group showed a non-significant difference with mild DAT group on executive control performance. This non-significant result suggests that the few patients with aMCI who performed significantly different at congruent and incongruent condition may progresses to DAT in comparison to those who don't face difficulty in resolving conflict among responses. The impairment in executive control network in aMCI revealed by difference in performance of response inhibition task could be proven as an early diagnostic to DAT which could further delay the onset of symptoms.

Effect of English learning experience on young children's prefrontal cortex functioning for attentional control: An fNIRS study.

The exploration concerning effect of bilingualism on cognitive performance has been enriched in recently studies. However, scarce research focused on its impact on the brain function, especially in non-proficient bilingual children. In the present study, both Chinese monolingual and English as a foreign language (EFL) bilingual children were conducted to a non-verbal attentional network task (ANT) by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique for exploring the consequence of English learning experience on young children's prefrontal regions of functioning attentional control. The behavior results showed that young EFL bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on the accuracy of ANT conflict condition. Furthermore, EFL bilingual children had higher activation in the left prefrontal cortex (inferior frontal gyrus and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex) than counterpart monolinguals. More interestingly, the degree of bilingual language balance positively correlated with that behavior accuracy and brain activation in bilingual group. These findings provided additional support for the bilingual advantage hypothesis and illustrated implications for understanding how foreign language learning impact children's brain development.

Attention network function of insomniacs improved by manual acupuncture: Evidence from Attention Network Task

ObjectiveTo investigate if manual acupuncture can improve the primary insomnia-induced impairments of attention network function and its safety. MethodsTotally 64 eligible participants were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial, with 32 cases allocated to the treatment group and 32 cases allocated to the control group, respectively. The participants in the treatment group received real-acupuncture therapy [acupuncture at ‘Five Spirits Acupoints’ including Shéntíng (神庭 GV 24), Běnshén (本神 GB 13), Sìshéncōng (四神聪 EX-HN 1), Shéndào (神道 GV 11) and Shénmén (神门 HT 7)] whereas participants in control group received sham-acupuncture therapy with Streitberger placebo-needle and same acupoints. Interventions were offered every two days and three times a week for total 8 weeks. Both Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and Attention Network Task (ANT) were employed to assess the changes of sleep quality and attention network function at pre-treatment and post-treatment, respectively. Meanwhile, adverse effects were monitored and recorded. Results(1) After 8-week treatment, the total score of PSQI in the treatment group decreased from 14.22±3.46 to 8.19±3.34 (P<0.001), and the total score of PSQI in the control group decreased from12.84 ± 3.90 to 11.41 ± 3.90 (P<0.05). The decrease in the treatment group was more significant than that in the control group (P<0.001). (2) After treatment, the alerting efficiency of both groups increased, the treatment group increased from 40.44±5.62 to 56.44±5.37 (P<0.001), and the control group increased from 39.50±6.39 to 40.06±6.14 (P<0.05). The increase in the treatment group was more significant than that in the control group (P<0.001). The total reaction time of both groups decreased, the treatment group decreased from 574.94±10.1 to 548.34±15.05 (P<0.001), and the control group decreased from 578.25±13.26 to 576.78±12.15 (P<0.05). The decrease in the treatment group was more significant than that in the control group (P<0.001). (3) No obvious change in orienting efficiency was observed in both groups after treatment (P>0.05). (4) No serious adverse events were reported in this trial, except 2 patients from treatment group had slight hematoma after receiving acupuncture therapy. ConclusionAcupuncture represents a safe and useful non-pharmacologic intervention option for primary insomniacs with impairments of attention network function (alertness and conflict processing/ executive control).

Parenting Stress and Broader Phenotype in Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyslexia or Typical Development.

In the present study parenting stress and the broader phenotype are investigated in two highly common developmental disorders, namely Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and specific reading impairment (dyslexia). Within a total sample of 130 parents, 27 were parents of children with ADHD (P-ADHD), 38 were parents of children with a diagnosis of dyslexia (P-DYS) and the other 65 participants were parents of children with typical development (P-TD). A battery of cognitive tasks was administered which included verbal and non-verbal Intellectual Quotient (IQ), reading speed (passage and nonwords), verbal fluency and the Attention Network Task (ANT). Reading history, symptoms of ADHD in adults and parenting stress were measured through questionnaires. Group differences evidenced that the P-DYS group had lower scores in the reading tasks, in the verbal fluency task and in the reading history questionnaire. Conversely, the P-ADHD group had more transversal cognitive weaknesses (IQ, reading tasks, verbal fluency) and the highest scores in parenting stress and ADHD symptoms, together with poor reading history. The groups did not differ in the ANT task. Parenting stress was predicted, on the whole sample, by lower socioeconomic status (SES) and number of family members and higher ADHD symptoms. Implications for research and clinical settings are discussed.

Gorilla in our midst: An online behavioral experiment builder

Behavioral researchers are increasingly conducting their studies online, to gain access to large and diverse samples that would be difficult to get in a laboratory environment. However, there are technical access barriers to building experiments online, and web browsers can present problems for consistent timing—an important issue with reaction-time-sensitive measures. For example, to ensure accuracy and test–retest reliability in presentation and response recording, experimenters need a working knowledge of programming languages such as JavaScript. We review some of the previous and current tools for online behavioral research, as well as how well they address the issues of usability and timing. We then present the Gorilla Experiment Builder (gorilla.sc), a fully tooled experiment authoring and deployment platform, designed to resolve many timing issues and make reliable online experimentation open and accessible to a wider range of technical abilities. To demonstrate the platform’s aptitude for accessible, reliable, and scalable research, we administered a task with a range of participant groups (primary school children and adults), settings (without supervision, at home, and under supervision, in both schools and public engagement events), equipment (participant’s own computer, computer supplied by the researcher), and connection types (personal internet connection, mobile phone 3G/4G). We used a simplified flanker task taken from the attentional network task (Rueda, Posner, & Rothbart, 2004). We replicated the “conflict network” effect in all these populations, demonstrating the platform’s capability to run reaction-time-sensitive experiments. Unresolved limitations of running experiments online are then discussed, along with potential solutions and some future features of the platform.

Cognitive Restoration in Children Following Exposure to Nature: Evidence From the Attention Network Task and Mobile Eye Tracking.

Exposure to nature improves cognitive performance through a process of cognitive restoration. However, few studies have explored the effect in children, and no studies have explored how eye movements “in the wild” with mobile eye tracking technology contribute to the restoration process. Our results demonstrated that just a 30-min walk in a natural environment was sufficient to produce a faster and more stable pattern of responding on the Attention Network Task, compared with an urban environment. Exposure to the natural environment did not improve executive (directed) attention performance. This pattern of results supports suggestions that children and adults experience unique cognitive benefits from nature. Further, we provide the first evidence of a link between cognitive restoration and the allocation of eye gaze. Participants wearing a mobile eye-tracker exhibited higher fixation rates while walking in the natural environment compared to the urban environment. The data go some way in uncovering the mechanisms sub-serving the restoration effect in children and elaborate how nature may counteract the effects of mental fatigue.

Shifting Instead of Drifting - Improving Attentional Performance by Means of the Attention Training Technique.

Background: The Attention Training Technique (ATT) as part of Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) has shown to be a promising treatment element for several psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. ATT predicts improvements of the ability to shift attention away from internal and non-relevant stimuli (e.g., ruminative thoughts) toward the relevant stimuli and aims to increase attentional flexibility and control. The current study investigated the impact of the Attention Training Technique on attentional performance.Methods: Eighty-five healthy participants (29 in two doses ATT, 28 in four doses ATT and 28 in the control group; 18–37 years of age) were administered a test battery for attentional performance before and after an intervention of two doses ATT (23 min duration) vs. four doses of ATT (46 min duration) vs. a control condition (non-intervention audio file via headphones. The test battery measured selective attention, inhibition, working memory, and attentional disengagement and comprised the following tasks: dichotic listening, attentional bias, attentional network, stroop, 2-back and a 3-back.Results: After ATT (both two and four doses), reaction time during dichotic listening was significantly faster compared to the control condition. Furthermore, reaction time to neutral stimuli in the attentional bias task was faster after four-doses ATT compared to two doses ATT and the control condition. We found a trend toward a reduced stroop effect for both ATT conditions compared to control group. There were no effects of ATT with regard to the attentional network task, the 2-back or the 3-back task.Conclusion: This first empirical evidence suggests that ATT promotes specific attentional flexibility in healthy participants. Based on the same mechanism, ATT may have beneficial effects on attentional performance in clinical populations and might be a promising tool in both healthy and clinical participants.

The association between sleep and cognitive abnormalities in bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with attentional and processing abnormalities. Such abnormalities are also seen in healthy subjects with sleep disruption. We hypothesised cognitive abnormalities in BD patients would be worse in those with objectively verified sleep abnormalities. Forty-six BD patients and 42 controls had comprehensive sleep/circadian rhythm assessment over 21 days alongside mood questionnaires. Cognitive function was assessed with a range of tasks including Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), Attention Network Task (ANT) and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). BD participants with normal and abnormal sleep were compared with age- and sex-matched controls. BD patients had longer response times and made more lapses (responses >500 ms) than controls on the PVT (both p < 0.001). However, patients with normal sleep patterns did not differ from controls while those with sleep abnormalities did (p < 0.001). An identical pattern of effects were seen with the ANT response times, with the abnormality in bipolar abnormal sleepers related to the executive attentional network. Similarly, patients made fewer correct responses on the DSST compared with the controls (p < 0.001). Bipolar normal sleepers did not differ while those with abnormal sleep did (p < 0.001). All these differences were seen in bipolar abnormal sleepers who were euthymic (p < 0.01) and across the main abnormal sleep phenotypes. We confirm impairment in attention and processing speed in BD. Rather than sleep abnormalities exacerbating such dysfunction, the impairments were confined to bipolar abnormal sleepers, consistent with sleep disturbance being the main driver of cognitive dysfunction.

Psychogenetic and psycho-physiological markers of cognitive abilities

This article is devoted to the actual problem of an integrative approach in the study of cognitive abilities using psychogenetic, psycho-physiological and psychometric methods. Modern studies of genetic markers of cognitive abilities are considered. The most significant achievements in the field of the recently appeared new direction of psychogenetics are noted. Scientific studies of the neurophysiological basis of abilities within the framework of cognitive neuroscience are also indicated. The results of modern studies of cognitive abilities, conducted using the methods of cognitive neuroscience, are considered. The results of recent psychogenetic studies of cognitive abilities, the limited predictive power of this research method, the complexity and systemic deficiencies of establishing genetic markers of cognitive abilities are reviewed. The conclusion about the promising use of the three-component “attention system” and the research of M. Pozner’s executive control is substantiated. The possibilities of electroencephalography (EEG) in combination with the tests of the Attention Network Task test to assess cognitive abilities were revealed. The necessity of combining the above methods to address the issues of early diagnosis of cognitive abilities is substantiated. The necessity of further detailed study of this problem on the basis of an integrative integrated approach is indicated. The idea of ​​combining psychogenetic studies, EEG methods in combination with the Attentional Network Task tests to assess executary control to establish markers of cognitive abilities is substantiated. According to the author, this approach will allow developing a system of science-based criteria for the effectiveness of human capital development programs. Keywords: markers of cognitive abilities, executive control, psychogenetics, electroencephalography

Language proficiency does not modulate executive control in older bilinguals

ABSTRACTWe examined if language proficiency modulates performance in tasks that measure executive control in older Telugu-English bilinguals (n = 50, mean age = 57.15 years). We administered numerical Stroop task, Attention Network Task, Dimensional Change Card Sorting task, and stop-signal task that are known to tap into different aspects of executive functioning on healthy aging Telugu-English bilinguals. Second language (English) proficiency was calculated as a cumulative score that considered both subjective and objective measures of L2 fluency and use. Bilinguals were divided into two groups based on the cumulative score and compared on each task. We did not find any effect of language proficiency on any of the executive control measures. The additional Bayesian analysis also supported these findings. Therefore, the results do not support the claim that bilingual language proficiency modulates executive control, at least in the elderly population. We discuss the results with regard to the issue of bilingual advantage in executive control and the role of age and language use.

Does rumination mediate the relationship between attentional control and symptoms of depression?

Background and objectivesIt has been suggested that impaired attentional control (AC) promotes the use of maladaptive emotional regulation strategies, such as rumination, with subsequent increase in risk of depression. MethodThis study examined this hypothesis in a healthy community sample. Questionnaire measures of depression, anxiety, rumination and self-reported AC (shifting and focusing) were used, as well as an attention performance task (Attention Network Task; ANT). ResultsWhile self-report and performance measures of AC were not significantly related, both depression and rumination were associated with reduced self-reported AC. Depression was specifically associated with poorer attentional shifting. Depression and brooding were also associated with better performance on the conflict component of the ANT. Importantly, the relationships of ANT conflict and self-reported AC to depression were mediated by brooding. LimitationsThe current study used a community sample, and it is unclear if results would generalise to a clinical population. All measures were taken concurrently and so it is not possible to confidently ascertain causality or direction of effects. ConclusionsThese results are consistent with the suggestion that impaired AC, particularly a narrow and inflexible attentional focus, may increase risk of depression by promoting ruminative thinking. The results highlight the importance of considering both self-report and performance measures of AC, as well as different components of attentional performance.

Dynamic functional connectivity during task performance and rest predicts individual differences in attention across studies

Dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) aims to maximize resolvable information from functional brain scans by considering temporal changes in network structure. Recent work has demonstrated that static, i.e. time-invariant resting-state and task-based FC predicts individual differences in behavior, including attention. Here, we show that DFC predicts attention performance across individuals. Sliding-window FC matrices were generated from fMRI data collected during rest and attention task performance by calculating Pearson's r between every pair of nodes of a whole-brain atlas within overlapping 10–60s time segments. Next, variance in r values across windows was taken to quantify temporal variability in the strength of each connection, resulting in a DFC connectome for each individual. In a leave-one-subject-out-cross-validation approach, partial-least-square-regression (PLSR) models were then trained to predict attention task performance from DFC matrices. Predicted and observed attention scores were significantly correlated, indicating successful out-of-sample predictions across rest and task conditions. Combining DFC and static FC features numerically improves predictions over either model alone, but the improvement was not statistically significant. Moreover, dynamic and combined models generalized to two independent data sets (participants performing the Attention Network Task and the stop-signal task). Edges with significant PLSR coefficients concentrated in visual, motor, and executive-control brain networks; moreover, most of these coefficients were negative. Thus, better attention may rely on more stable, i.e. less variable, information flow between brain regions.