Enhancing attention through working memory: functional neuroimaging and translational applications

想象一下，你走在街上，想着一个你现在非常想念的老朋友。突然，人群中的一个男人吸引了你的目光。然后，你意识到他看起来很像你现在的朋友。这个例子表明，我们的注意力可以被与我们工作记忆（WM）中积极保存的内容相匹配的刺激自动吸引。拟议的项目建立在我最近的工作基础上，我第一次描绘了(I)影响WM对注意力部署的影响的因素和（ii）大脑中可能至关重要的区域。然而，哪些特定的大脑区域对于WM的注意力引导确实是至关重要和必要的，以及它们的具体功能贡献是什么，仍有待确定。该项目与脑损伤（即中风后）后的注意力障碍有关。拟议的项目将揭示这些问题。我将使用结合计算机化视觉注意力任务、脑成像和脑刺激技术的新方法，以指定在引导注意力从WM内容中转移的关键脑回路。我还将把研究应用到临床环境中。我的目的是证明神经系统患者的注意力缺陷可以通过训练大脑记忆能力得到改善。该项目的结果将提供重要的见解，以了解支持健康大脑中由WM引导注意力的脑回路，它们如何与受伤大脑中的注意力和意识障碍相关，以及这些认知障碍如何受到WM训练和WM内容的操纵的影响。该项目将为广泛的神经系统患者的注意力障碍康复提供有趣的临床应用。

Imagine yourself walking in the street and thinking of an old friend that currently you miss very much. Suddenly, a man in the crowd captures your eyes. Then, you realize that he looks very much like your friend in your current thoughts. This example shows that our attention can be automatically attracted by a stimulus matching the contents actively held in our working memory (WM). The proposed project builds up on my recent work where I have delineated for the first time (i) the factors that influence the effect of WM on the deployment of attention and (ii) the areas in the brain that may be critical. However, it remains to be established which particular brain regions are indeed crucial and necessary for attentional guidance from WM and what may be their specific functional contribution. The project is relevant with regard to attentional impairments following brain damage (i.e. after stroke). The proposed project will uncover these issues. I will use novel approaches that combine computerised visual attention tasks, brain imaging and brain stimulation techniques, in order to specify the brain circuits that are critical in guiding attention from the contents of WM. I will also apply the research into clinical settings. I aim to show that attentional impairments in neurological patients can be improved by training in WM capabilities. The outcome of the project will provide important insights to understand the brain circuits that support the guidance of attention by WM in the healthy brain, how they relate to impairments of attention and awareness in the injured brain and how these cognitive impairments can be influenced by WM training and the manipulation of the contents of WM. The project will pose interesting clinical applications to rehabilitate impairments of attention in a wide range of neurological patients.