Attentional Functions of the Pulvinar

描述（由申请人提供）：从杂乱的环境中选择相关信息进行进一步处理是指导行为的最基本的认知能力之一。当注意力选择机制失效时，这一点就变得非常明显了，比如患有多动症、中风后经常观察到的视觉空间偏侧运动障碍和精神分裂症的人。来自生理学和脑功能成像研究的证据表明，注意力选择发生在视觉通路的多个沿着阶段。例如，早在外侧膝状体核中以及在每个连续的视觉处理阶段，神经反应就通过对目标位置的空间定向注意来调节。这些调节作用似乎是由额叶和顶叶皮层的高阶区域网络产生的，包括额叶眼区和外侧顶内区（LIP）。虽然已经作出了很大的努力，在皮层水平上的注意力机制的理解，皮层下区域的功能作用是很差的定义。从人类和猕猴的病变研究中有证据表明，一个大的丘脑核，枕，在选择过程中起着重要作用。枕与额顶叶和视觉皮层广泛相连，因此能够很好地影响整个皮层的交流。然而，很少有生理学研究探讨枕活动在注意力选择任务已执行。该研究的目的是描述枕区的注意功能（SA #1），并描述枕区和皮层在注意选择过程中如何相互作用（SA #2）。核心假设是枕协调皮质区域的活动，以根据注意力的要求调节信息传输。为了验证这一假设，我们将同时记录枕和皮质区LIP的神经活动，而猴子执行选择性注意任务。这项研究旨在促进我们对灵长类大脑中调节注意力功能的神经机制和网络相互作用的理解。理解选择性注意的基本机制是发展有效的注意缺陷治疗策略的第一个必要步骤。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究与公共卫生有关，因为它有望促进我们对选择性注意的神经机制的理解，这是指导行为的最基本认知能力之一。当注意力选择机制失效时，这一点就变得非常明显了，比如患有多动症、中风后经常观察到的视觉空间偏侧运动障碍和精神分裂症的人。理解选择性注意的基本机制是发展有效的注意缺陷治疗策略的第一个必要步骤。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The selection of relevant information from cluttered environments for further processing is one of the most fundamental cognitive abilities for guiding behavior. This becomes strikingly clear when attentional selection mechanisms fail, such as in individuals afflicted with ADHD, visuospatial hemineglect that is often observed after stroke, and schizophrenia. Converging evidence from physiology and functional brain imaging studies reveals that attentional selection occurs at multiple stages along the visual pathway. E.g. neural responses are modulated by spatially directed attention to a target location as early as in the lateral geniculate nucleus and at each successive visual processing stage. These modulatory influences appear to be generated by a network of higher-order areas in frontal and parietal cortex including the frontal eye fields and lateral intraparietal area (LIP). While much effort has been made towards an understanding of attentional mechanisms at the cortical level, the functional role of subcortical areas is poorly defined. There is evidence from human and macaque lesion studies that a large thalamic nucleus, the pulvinar, plays an important role in the selection process. The pulvinar is widely connected with fronto-parietal and visual cortex and is thus well positioned to influence communication across the cortex. However, very few physiology studies probing pulvinar activity during attentional selection tasks have been performed. The goal of the proposed research is to characterize attentional function in the pulvinar (SA #1) and to characterize how the pulvinar and cortex interact during attentional selection (SA #2). The central hypothesis is that the pulvinar coordinates activity in cortical areas, in order to regulate information transmission according to attentional requirements. To test this hypothesis, we will simultaneously record neural activity in the pulvinar and cortical area LIP, while monkeys perform a selective attention task. The proposed research is aimed at advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms and the network interactions that mediate attentional functions in the primate brain. Progress in understanding the basic mechanisms of selective attention is a first necessary step in developing effective treatment strategies for attentional deficits. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research is relevant to public health because it is expected to advance our understanding of neural mechanisms underlying selective attention, which is one of the most fundamental cognitive abilities for guiding behavior. This becomes strikingly clear when attentional selection mechanisms fail, such as in individuals afflicted with ADHD, visuo-spatial hemineglect that is often observed following stroke, and schizophrenia. Progress in understanding the basic mechanisms of selective attention is a first necessary step in developing effective treatment strategies for attentional deficits.