Efficiency Of Attentional Networks Research Articles

The effect of considering eye movement time in evaluating the efficiency of attentional networks.

The attention network test (ANT) is a tool for assessing the executive, alerting, and orienting components of attention. However, conflicting findings exist regarding the nature and correlation between attention networks. This study aims to investigate the influence of eye movement time on the assessment of attention network efficiency. Forty male students, with an average age of 20.8 ± 1.3 years, participated in the study. The revised attention network test was conducted concurrently with the recording of the electrooculogram signal. The electrooculogram signal was used to estimate eye placement time on target stimuli. Considering eye movement time for calculating the score of each network was proposed as a novel method. The study explored the nature of attention networks and their relationships, and revealed significant effects for attention networks with and without considering the eye movement time. Additionally, a significant correlation is observed between the alerting and orienting networks. However, no significant correlation is found between attention networks using the proposed method. Considering eye movement time alters the assessment of attention network efficiency and modifies the correlation among attention networks.

The Efficiency of Attentional Networks in Takostubo Syndrome: A Study With the Attentional Network Task for Interaction

Introduction: The role of cardiovascular risk factors in the occurrence and progression of cognitive impairment is relevant in aging studies. In this condition, attention is one of the processes less studied, but preliminary evidence suggests an association between cardiometabolic alterations and attentional decline. Attention is not a unitary process but a set of independent systems (Alerting, Orienting, Executive), which can interact in certain conditions to ensure maximum behavioral efficiency. Methods: We investigated attentive networks and their interactions in patients with Takostubo syndrome (TTS). In all, 20 participants with TTS and 20 individuals without cardiovascular pathologies performed an Attention-Network Task for Interaction, which assesses attentional networks and their interactions. Results: Patients with TTS showed an atypical orienting effect when compared to the control group. Moreover, only the control group exhibited an interaction between orienting and alerting. Conclusion: These findings establish the relevance of brain–heart interaction in identifying attentional impairment as a prodrome of progressively severe cognitive impairment in TTS.

The effect and efficiency of attentional networks and the brain electrophysiology.

The attention networks test (ANT) is frequently utilized to evaluate executive, alerting, and orienting attentional components. Additionally, it serves as an activation task in neuroimaging studies. This study aimed to examine the relationship between attention networks and brain electrophysiology. The study enrolled 40 right-handed male students (age = 20.8 ± 1.3 years) who underwent the revised attention network test, while their electroencephalogram signals were recorded. The study aimed to explore the effects of attention networks and their efficiencies on brain electrophysiology. The results indicated that the P3 amplitude was modulated by the conflict effect in the central (p-value = 0.014) and parietal (p-value = 0.002) regions. The orienting component significantly influenced P1 and N1 latencies in the parietal and parieto-occipital regions (p-values < 0.006), as well as P1 and N1 amplitude in the parieto-occipital region (p-values = 0.017 and 0.011). The alerting component significantly affected P1 latency and amplitude in the parietal and parieto-occipital regions, respectively (p-value = 0.02). Furthermore, N1 amplitude and the time interval between P1 and N1 were significantly correlated with the efficiency of alerting and orienting networks. In terms of connectivity, the coherence of theta and alpha bands significantly decreased in the incongruent condition compared to the congruent condition. Additionally, the effects of attention networks on event-related spectral perturbation were observed. The study revealed the influence of attention networks on various aspects of brain electrophysiology. Specifically, the alerting score correlated with the amplitude of the N1 component in the double-cue and no-cue conditions in the parieto-occipital region, while the orienting score in the same region correlated with the N1 amplitude in the valid cue condition and the difference in N1 amplitude between the valid cue and double-cue conditions. Overall, empirical evidence suggests that attention networks not only impact the amplitudes of electrophysiological activities but also influence their time course.

Age-Related Changes in Hemispherical Specialization for Attentional Networks.

Many cognitive functions face a decline in the healthy elderly. Within the cognitive domains, both attentional processes and executive functions are impaired with aging. Attention includes three attentional networks, i.e., alerting, orienting, and executive control, showing a hemispheric lateralized pattern in adults. This lateralized pattern could play a role in modulating the efficiency of attentional networks. For these reasons, it could be relevant to analyze the age-related change of the hemispheric specialization of attentional networks. This study aims to clarify this aspect with a lateralized version of the Attentional Network Test for Interaction (ANTI)-Fruit. One hundred seventy-one participants took part in this study. They were divided in three age groups: youth (N = 57; range: 20–30); adults (N = 57; range 31–64), and elderly/older people (N = 57; range: 65–87). The results confirmed the previous outcomes on the efficiency and interactions among attentional networks. Moreover, an age-related generalized slowness was evidenced. These findings also support the hypothesis of a hemispheric asymmetry reduction in elderly/older adults.

The effects of direct current stimulation and random noise stimulation on attention networks

Attention is a complex cognitive process that selects specific stimuli for further processing. Previous research suggested the existence of three attentional networks: alerting, orienting and executive. However, one important topic is how to enhance the efficiency of attentional networks. In this context, understanding how this system behaves under two different modulatory conditions, namely transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (tRNS), will provide important insights towards the understanding of the attention network system. Twenty-seven healthy students took part on a randomized single-blinded crossover study, testing the effects that involved three modalities of unilateral stimulation (tRNS, anodal tDCS, and sham) over the DLPFC, during the performance of the attention network test (ANT) in three different conditions: standard, speed and accuracy. Results showed that tRNS was able to increase attention during more complex situations, namely by increasing alerting and decreasing conflict effect in the executive network. Under the Speed condition, tRNS increased efficiency of the alerting network, as well as under the more demanding conflict network, tRNS overall increased the performance when comparing to sham. No statistical significant effects of tDCS were observed. These results are compatible with the attention requiring the synchronization of pre-existing networks, rather the reinforcement or creation of new pathways.

Efficiency of attentional networks in musicians and non-musicians

Music is a complex and properly human skill. Previous studies indicate that systematic musical training induces specific structural brain changes and improves audio-motor functions. However, whether these benefits can transfer into functional improvements of attentional skills is still little known. To shed light on this issue, in the present study we explored the relationship between long-term musical training and the efficiency of the attentional system. We used the attention network test (ANT) to compare the performance of the alerting, orienting and executive attentional networks of professional pianists against a matched group of non-musician adults. We found that musicians were significantly faster to respond across the ANT task, and that the executive attentional network was more efficient in musicians than non-musicians. We found no differences in the efficiency of the alerting and orienting networks between both groups. Interestingly, we found that the efficiency of the executive system improves with the years of musical training, even when controlling for age. We also found that the three attentional networks of the non-musicians were functionally independent. However, in the case of the musicians, the efficiency of the alerting and orienting systems was associated. These findings provide evidence of a potential transfer effect from systematic musical training into inhibitory attentional control.

Ten years younger: Practice of chronic aerobic exercise improves attention and spatial memory functions in ageing.

Aerobic exercise is associated with changes in brain morphology and improvement of cognitive functions. Physical activity may be especially important after age 60 when cognitive decline is more pronounced. In this paper, the effect of chronic practice of aerobic sports was studied in old adults by assessing their executive and mnesic functions, supported by frontal and temporal brain structures. Two groups were formed according to their age (60-69 and 70-79 years-old) including sportsmen (n = 23) and sedentary men (n = 24). Spatial memory and efficiency of attentional networks were measured, as well as general intelligence. Results showed that sportsmen outperformed sedentary participants in many of the tests employed. Thus their alerting, orienting and executive networks worked more effectively in the ANT-I task for executive functions, and they were more accurate in the spatial memory task, displaying a better spatial orientation. Scores in other neuropsychological tasks followed the same tendency. These data support the protective effect of aerobic exercise on cognitive functions.

The role of attentional networks in the access to the numerical magnitude of fractions in adults / El rol de las redes atencionales en el acceso a la magnitud numérica de fracciones en adultos

This study explored the relationship between the efficiency of alerting, orienting and executive control networks (attentional executive function) and accessing numerical magnitudes in adults, during a fraction comparison task, presenting pairs of fractions either with (CC) or without (WCC) common components. The results indicate that CC fractions are processed in a componential style, are affected by a whole number bias (WNB) and that performance in this block does not depend on the efficiency of attentional networks. By contrast, pairs of WCC fractions are processed in a holistic way, the WNB interacts with the numerical distance between fractions and performance in this block correlates with the efficiency of attentional orienting and executive control systems. Taken together, our findings show that the efficient selection of information and inhibitory control of intervening variables play an important role in processing fractions, particularly when the task requires the use of more holistic strategies to access the numerical magnitude of the fraction.

Dispositional mindfulness facets predict the efficiency of attentional networks

Several studies in mindfulness and meditation research have used the Attentional Network Task (ANT) to assess changes in the efficiency of attentional networks. The approaches used for mental training, the experimental designs, and the results in such studies are however heterogeneous, and in most cases, do not involve an assessment of dispositional mindfulness in its different facets. In this article, we originally report a study in which performances in the Attention Network Test Interactions (ANTI), a revised version of the ANT, are predicted by dispositional mindfulness facets (assessed through the five facets mindfulness questionnaire) in a population naive to meditation. Regression analyses revealed that the mindfulness facets observe and acting with awareness were effective predictors of the efficiency of the three assessed attentional networks. Specifically, we found that observe scores predicted higher alerting scores. We also found that a higher acting with awareness score predicted slower response times when the executive control system was involved. Our results thus appear to contrast with other studies finding faster response times with mindfulness meditation training. More generally, our findings suggest that a higher dispositional mindfulness does not necessarily implicate an increased attentional efficiency in terms of response times.

Eccentricity Effects on the Efficiency of Attentional Networks: Evidence From a Modified Attention Network Test.

The effects of eccentricity on the attentional modulation of visual discrimination have been widely studied; however, the substrate of this complex phenomenon is poorly understood. Here, we provided a measure of the effects of eccentricity on three attentional networks: alerting, orienting, and executive attention. Participants ( N = 63) were tested with a modified attention network test that included an additional eccentricity variation; this test allowed us to investigate the efficiency of the attentional networks at near and far eccentricities. Compared with targets at the near eccentricity, targets at the far eccentricity generally elicited significantly longer reaction times. We also found the far eccentricity was associated with smaller orienting effect scores and larger executive control scores than the near eccentricity. Interestingly, at the near eccentricity, executive control scores were larger when the spatial information was neutral (no cue, center cue, and double cue), but at the far eccentricity, the scores were larger when the spatial information was valid (spatial cue). We propose that the allocation of attentional resources differed among these cue conditions and influenced the interference caused by conflicting information.

Modulation of executive attention by threat stimulus in test-anxious students.

The study examined whether test anxiety (TA) is related to impaired attentional networks under emotional distraction. High and low test-anxious students completed a modified version of the attention network test (ANT) in which emotional distracters, specifically threat-related or neutral words, were embedded in centrally presented hollow arrows in Experiment 1. Results showed a significant reduction in efficiency of the executive attention in test-anxious students compared to controls when the fillers were threat/test-related words. To evaluate the effect of the test adaptation, the original ANT, which utilized no emotional distracter, was employed as a control task in Experiment 2. We then consolidated the data on efficiency of attentional networks, which were derived from both tasks. Contrasting the two tasks showed that TA reduced executive attention in the revised task only, suggesting an enhanced sensitivity provided by the adaptation from the original task. Taken together, these findings indicate that the attentional deficit in test-anxious individuals represents a situation-related defect of a single component of attention rather than an underlying structural and universal attentional deficit. The results support the hypothesis of attentional control theory and contribute to the understanding of attentional mechanisms in individuals with TA.

Developing Attention: Behavioral and Brain Mechanisms.

Brain networks underlying attention are present even during infancy and are critical for the developing ability of children to control their emotions and thoughts. For adults, individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks have been related to neuromodulators and to genetic variations. We have examined the development of attentional networks and child temperament in a longitudinal study from infancy (7 months) to middle childhood (7 years). Early temperamental differences among infants, including smiling and laughter and vocal reactivity, are related to self-regulation abilities at 7 years. However, genetic variations related to adult executive attention, while present in childhood, are poor predictors of later control, in part because individual genetic variationmay have many small effects and in part because their influence occurs in interaction with caregiver behavior and other environmental influences. While brain areas involved in attention are present during infancy, their connectivity changes and leads to improvement in control of behavior. It is also possible to influence control mechanisms through training later in life. The relation between maturation and learning may allow advances in our understanding of human brain development.

Electrophysiological correlates of attention networks in childhood and early adulthood

Attention has been related to functions of alerting, orienting, and executive control, which are associated with distinct brain networks. This study aimed at understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the development of attention functions during childhood. A total of 46 healthy 4–13-year-old children and 15 adults performed an adapted version of the Attention Network Task (ANT) while brain activation was registered with a high-density EEG system. Performance of the ANT revealed changes in the efficiency of attention networks across ages. While no differences were observed on the alerting score, both orienting and executive attention scores showed a more protracted developmental curve. Further, age-related differences in brain activity were mostly observed in early ERP components. Young children had poorer early processing of warning cues compared to 10–13-year-olds and adults, as shown by an immature auditory-evoked potential complex elicited by warning tones. Also, 4–6-year-olds exhibited a poorer processing of orienting cues as indexed by lack of modulation of the N1. Finally, flanker congruency produced earlier modulation of ERPs amplitude with age. Flanker congruency effects were delayed and more anteriorly distributed for young children, compared to adults who showed a clear modulation of the N2 in fronto-parietal channels. Additionally, interactions among attention networks were examined. Both alerting and orienting conditions modulated the effectiveness of conflict processing by the executive attention network. The Orienting×Executive networks interactions was only observed after about age 7. Results are informative of the neural correlates of the development of attention networks in childhood.

Variation in Key Genes of Serotonin and Norepinephrine Function Predicts Gamma-Band Activity during Goal-Directed Attention

Recent evidence shows that genetic variations in key regulators of serotonergic (5-HT) signaling explain variance in executive tasks, which suggests modulatory actions of 5-HT on goal-directed selective attention as one possible underlying mechanism. To investigate this link, 130 volunteers were genotyped for the 5-HT transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and for a variation (TPH2-703 G/T) of the TPH2 gene coding for the rate-limiting enzyme of 5-HT synthesis in the brain. Additionally, a functional polymorphism of the norepinephrine transporter gene (NET -3081 A/T) was considered, which was recently found to predict attention and working memory processes in interaction with serotonergic genes. The flanker-based Attention Network Test was used to assess goal-directed attention and the efficiency of attentional networks. Event-related gamma-band activity served to indicate selective attention at the intermediate phenotype level. The main findings were that 5-HTTLPR s allele and TPH2 G-allele homozygotes showed increased induced gamma-band activity during target processing when combined with the NET A/A genotype compared with other genotype combinations, and that gamma activity mediates the genotype-specific effects on task performance. The results further support a modulatory role of 5-HT and NE function in the top-down attentional selection of motivationally relevant over competing or irrelevant sensory input.

The Attention System of the Human Brain: 20 Years After

Here, we update our 1990 Annual Review of Neuroscience article, "The Attention System of the Human Brain." The framework presented in the original article has helped to integrate behavioral, systems, cellular, and molecular approaches to common problems in attention research. Our framework has been both elaborated and expanded in subsequent years. Research on orienting and executive functions has supported the addition of new networks of brain regions. Developmental studies have shown important changes in control systems between infancy and childhood. In some cases, evidence has supported the role of specific genetic variations, often in conjunction with experience, that account for some of the individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks. The findings have led to increased understanding of aspects of pathology and to some new interventions.

Hemispheric asymmetry in the efficiency of attentional networks

Despite the fact that hemispheric asymmetry of attention has been widely studied, a clear picture of this complex phenomenon is still lacking. The aim of the present study was to provide an efficient and reliable measurement of potential hemispheric asymmetries of three attentional networks, i.e. alerting, orienting and executive attention. Participants (N=125) were tested with the Lateralized Attention Network Test (LANT) that allowed us to investigate the efficiency of the networks in both visual fields (VF). We found a LVF advantage when a target occurred in an unattended location, which seems to reflect right hemisphere superiority in control of the reorienting of attention. Furthermore, a LVF advantage in conflict resolution was observed, which may indicate hemispheric asymmetry of the executive network. No VF effect for alerting was found. The results, consistent with the common notion of general right hemisphere dominance for attention, provide a more detailed account of hemispheric asymmetries of the attentional networks than previous studies using the LANT task.

The Efficiency of Attentional Networks in Children Who Stutter

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether previously reported questionnaire-based differences in self-regulatory behaviors (Eggers, De Nil, & Van den Bergh, 2009, 2010) between children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) would also be reflected in their underlying attentional networks. Participants consisted of 41 CWS (mean age = 6;09; years;months) and 41 CWNS (mean age = 6;09) ranging in age from 4;00 to 9;00. Participants were matched on age and gender. The efficiency of the attentional networks was assessed by using the computerized Attention Network Test (Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002). Primary results indicated that CWS had a significantly lower efficiency of the orienting network compared with CWNS, whereas no differences were found on the alerting or executive control network. Current findings corroborate previously found differences in self-regulatory behavior and were taken to suggest a possible role for attentional processes in developmental stuttering.

Funciones atencionales de orientación espacial, alerta y control ejecutivo en personas con trastornos del espectro autista = Attentional functions of spatial orientation, alerting and executive function in individuals with autism spectrum disorders

The aim of this work was to study attentional functions of spatial orientation, alerting and executive control in individuals with autism spectrum disorders, based on Posner's model of attentional networks (1978). To this purpose the Attention Network Test (Fan et al., 2002) was applied to a group of 10 individuals with Asperger syndrome and a group of 10 normally developing par- ticipants. The group of subjects with AS showed an atypical pattern regarding the efficiency of attentional networks, reaction times and total correct answers. Results are discussed as to attention functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorders and the influence of facilitating factors on their performance.

The efficiency of attentional networks in early and late bilinguals: the role of age of acquisition.

Previous studies have demonstrated a bilingual advantage in the efficiency of executive attention. A question remains, however, about the impact of the age of L2 acquisition and relative balance of the two languages on the enhancement of executive functions in bilinguals, and whether this is modulated by the similarity of the bilingual's two languages. The present study explores these issues by comparing the efficiency of attentional networks amongst three groups of young adults living in Australia: English monolinguals and early and late Chinese–English bilinguals. We also address the impact of bilingualism on hemispheric lateralization of cognitive functions, which is of interest since a recent study on early bilinguals revealed reduced hemispheric asymmetry in attentional functioning. In the present study, participants performed a modified version of the lateralized attention network test. Both early and late bilinguals were found to have more efficient executive network than monolinguals. The late bilinguals, who were also reported to be more balanced in the proficiency and usage of their two languages, showed the greatest advantage in conflict resolution, whereas early bilinguals seemed to show enhanced monitoring processes. These group differences were observed when controlling for non-verbal intelligence and socioeconomic status. Such results suggest that specific factors of language experience may differentially influence the mechanisms of cognitive control. Since the bilinguals had distinct language sets, it seems that the influence of bilingualism on executive functions is present regardless of the similarity between the two languages. As for hemispheric lateralization, although the results were not clear-cut, they suggest the reduced lateralization in early bilinguals.

Training, maturation, and genetic influences on the development of executive attention

A neural network underlying attentional control involves the anterior cingulate in addition to lateral prefrontal areas. An important development of this network occurs between 3 and 7 years of age. We have examined the efficiency of attentional networks across age and after 5 days of attention training (experimental group) compared with different types of no training (control groups) in 4-year-old and 6-year-old children. Strong improvement in executive attention and intelligence was found from ages 4 to 6 years. Both 4- and 6-year-olds showed more mature performance after the training than did the control groups. This finding applies to behavioral scores of the executive attention network as measured by the attention network test, event-related potentials recorded from the scalp during attention network test performance, and intelligence test scores. We also documented the role of the temperamental factor of effortful control and the DAT1 gene in individual differences in attention. Overall, our data suggest that the executive attention network appears to develop under strong genetic control, but that it is subject to educational interventions during development.