Brain connectivity and visual attention.
Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)
Emerging hypotheses suggest that efficient cognitive functioning requires the integration of separate, but interconnected cortical networks in the brain. Although task-related measures of brain activity suggest that a frontoparietal network is associated with the control of attention, little is known regarding how components within this distributed network act together or with other networks to achieve various attentional functions. This review considers both functional and structural studies of brain connectivity, as complemented by behavioral and task-related neuroimaging data. These studies show converging results: The frontal and parietal cortical regions are active together, over time, and identifiable frontoparietal networks are active in relation to specific task demands. However, the spontaneous, low-frequency fluctuations of brain activity that occur in the resting state, without specific task demands, also exhibit patterns of connectivity that closely resemble the task-related, frontoparietal attention networks. Both task-related and resting-state networks exhibit consistent relations to behavioral measures of attention. Further, anatomical structure, particularly white matter pathways as defined by diffusion tensor imaging, places constraints on intrinsic functional connectivity. Lastly, connectivity analyses applied to investigate cognitive differences across individuals in both healthy and diseased states suggest that disconnection of attentional networks is linked to deficits in cognitive functioning, and in extreme cases, to disorders of attention. Thus, comprehensive theories of visual attention and their clinical translation depend on the continued integration of behavioral, task-related neuroimaging, and brain connectivity measures.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Parks, EL; Madden, DJ
Published Date
- 2013
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 3 / 4
Start / End Page
- 317 - 338
PubMed ID
- 23597177
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC3749701
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 2158-0022
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1089/brain.2012.0139
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States