Human and Monkey Studies of Attentional Control Networks

视觉选择性注意是一种核心认知能力，它使人类和动物能够专注于行为相关的刺激，同时将无关和/或分散注意力的事件的干扰降至最低。目前的几个理论模型已经提出，皮层脑区与皮质下大脑结构相互作用，形成自愿注意的控制网络。这种控制网络对视觉信号在感觉通路中的传输施加调制影响，从而导致对视觉输入的注意过滤。尤其是丘脑枕部，一种皮质下的丘脑结构，被认为是注意控制网络的关键部分，但对涉及的神经生理机制知之甚少。在国家科学基金会的支持下，加州大学戴维斯分校的George R.Mangun博士和W.Martin Usrey博士将探索注意控制的神经机制，特别是关于丘脑皮质下枕下核的作用。该项目将结合对人类和猴子的研究。在健康的人类志愿者中，使用功能和结构磁共振成像的脑扫描将被用来识别参与注意力处理的神经解剖系统，并评估枕骨在注意力控制中的作用。在清醒的猴子身上，来自枕骨和早期视觉皮质区域的电记录将被用来在单个脑细胞和小型神经元网络的水平上研究注意处理的机制。无论是开车、听安全说明，还是专注于正确准备纳税申报单，注意力都会支持成功的业绩。大脑如何引起注意力是理解人类和动物如何在复杂且往往要求苛刻的环境中发挥作用的核心兴趣。这项研究将测试一个关于支持成功注意力的大脑机制的具体假设。这项研究将利用对不同相关物种(人和猴子)的联合调查，因此将允许整合不同水平的分析。单个神经元的活动不容易在人类身上研究，它将在猴子身上进行研究，而广泛存在的人类大脑网络将通过人类的大脑成像进行研究。由于人类和猴子将被要求在研究他们的大脑时执行相同的任务，因此来自每个物种和方法的结果数据将能够整合在一个共同的分析和理论框架中进行考虑。这项研究的信息将提供对人类思维和行动的基本能力的基本理解，也将提供可用于改善患者和健康人的注意力障碍和提高注意力能力的信息。

Visual selective attention is a core cognitive ability that enables humans and animals to focus on behaviorally relevant stimuli while minimizing interference from irrelevant and/or distracting events. Several current theoretical models have proposed that cortical brain regions interact with subcortical brain structures to form a control network for voluntary attention. This control network exerts modulatory influences over the transmission of the visual signals in the sensory pathways that result in attentional filtering of visual inputs. In particular, the pulvinar, a subcortical thalamic structure, has been implicated as a key part of the attentional control network, but relatively little is known about the neurophysiological mechanisms involved. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. George R. Mangun and Dr. W. Martin Usrey of the University of California at Davis will explore the neural mechanisms of attentional control, especially with respect to the role of the subcortical pulvinar nuclei of the thalamus. This project will combine studies in humans and monkeys. In healthy human volunteers, brain scanning using functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging will be used to identify the neuroanatomical systems involved in attentional processing and to assess the role of the pulvinar in attentional control. In awake monkeys, electrical recordings from the pulvinar and early visual cortical areas will be used to investigate the mechanisms of attentional processing at the level of single brain cells and small networks of neurons. Whether driving a car, listening to safety instructions, or concentrating on correctly preparing tax returns, attention supports successful performance. How the brain enables attention is of central interest for understanding how humans and animals function in a complex, and often demanding, environment. This research will test a specific hypothesis about the brain mechanisms that support successful attention. The research will capitalize on combining investigations in different related species (humans and monkeys) and will therefore permit different levels of analysis to be integrated. The activity of single neurons, which cannot easily be studied in humans, will be investigated in monkeys, while widespread human brain networks will be studied using brain imaging in humans. Because the humans and monkeys will be required to perform the same tasks while their brains are being studied, the resulting data from each species and method will be able to be integrated and considered in a common analytical and theoretical framework. The information from this research will provide a basic understanding of an essential ability in human thought and action, and will also provide information that can be used in ameliorating disorders of attention and improving attentional abilities in patients and healthy individuals.