ATTENTIONAL CAPACITY--MODULATION BY CEREBRAL DYNAMICS

描述(申请人摘要)：这项研究提案审查了 一种假设，即我们的注意力能力的限制可以通过 脑区之间的动态相互作用。通常情况下，研究人员 检查注意力的神经基础决定了注意的方式 特定的大脑区域执行特定的注意力功能。例如, 后顶叶区域与注意力分散有关。 从视觉空间中的一个特定点。尽管大多数研究人员 考察注意力的神经基础，把它想象成一个 协同工作的结构，这些结构相互作用的方式 不同的大脑结构对表现的调节作用仍未明确。这个 本提案中的研究将通过以下方式解决这一重要缺陷 提出这是大脑区域之间的动态，而不是 由大脑区域执行的特定处理，这会影响某些 注意力功能的各个方面。特别是，该提案将 检验这一假设，即大脑之间的动态相互作用 大脑半球对注意力功能有深远的影响，因为这些 动态调节系统的容量。将处理划分为 建议在处理负载较高时使用半球，或者 当存在竞争信息时，因为信息分散 横跨一大片神经空间。相比之下，这种扩散 当处理负载较轻或在以下情况下，处理是有害的 必须处理补充信息。 设计了三个系列的实验来系统地评估这一点 假设。第一系列实验测试是否划分了 在以下情况下，跨半球的处理将增加处理能力 必须有选择地注意刺激的某些属性，同时 其他属性将被忽略。第二系列实验测试 两个半球之间的处理分工是否会同时减少 两种常见注意范式的干扰和促进 Stroop范式和Navon全局/局部范式。第三个系列 实验测试了同时执行两项任务的能力 当两个任务中的一个任务需要 当两个半球都不存在时，两个半球都没有。这些措施的结果 研究不仅将扩大我们对神经认知基础的理解 但也将为未来的研究提供基础， 可以检验某些临床上注意力缺陷的假说 患有膝盖骨功能障碍的人群，如精神分裂症患者，与 大脑半球动力学方面的损伤。

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): This research proposal examines the hypothesis that limitations on our attentional abilities can be modified by dynamic interactions between brain regions. Typically, researchers examining the neural bases of attention determine the manner in which specific brain regions perform certain attentional functions. For example, posterior parietal regions have been implicated in disengaging attention from a particular point in visual space. Although most researchers examining the neural basis of attention conceive of it as a network of structures working in concert, the manner in which the interplay of these various brain structures modulates performance remains unspecified. The research in this proposal will address this important shortcoming by proposing that it is the dynamics between brain regions, rather than the specific processing performed by brain regions, that influences certain aspects of attentional functioning. In particular, the proposal will examine the hypothesis that dynamic interactions between the cerebral hemispheres have profound effects on attentional functioning because these dynamics modulate the capacity of the system. Dividing processing across the hemispheres is proposed to be useful when processing load is high or when competing information is present because information is dispersed across a large expanse of neural space. In contrast, this dispersal of processing is detrimental when the processing load is light or when complementary information must be processed. Three series of experiments are designed to systematically evaluate this hypothesis. The first series of experiments tests whether division of processing across the hemispheres will increase processing capacity when attention must be paid selectively to certain attributes of a stimulus while other attributes are ignored. The second series of experiments tests whether a division of processing across the hemispheres reduces both interference and facilitation in two common attentional paradigms: the Stroop paradigm and the Navon global/local paradigm. The third series of experiments tests whether the ability to simultaneously perform two tasks increases when one of the two tasks requires continuous interaction between the hemispheres as compared to when neither do. The outcome of these studies will not only expand our understanding of the neurocognitive bases of attention but will also provide the foundation for future studies that can test the hypothesis that attentional deficits in certain clinical populations with callosal dysfunction, such as schizophrenics, are linked to impairments in hemispheric dynamics.