Dissociating feature- and space-based attention in the frontoparietal network

描述（由申请人提供）：注意力是视觉感知的关键组成部分，它允许大脑根据当前任务需求分配有限的资源。大多数研究都集中在我们隐蔽地关注视野中特定区域的能力（空间注意力），但我们也可以关注特定的视觉特征，独立于空间位置（基于特征的注意力）。空间注意力的研究已经确定了额叶和顶叶皮层的高阶区域网络，这些区域似乎是这些调制信号的来源。最近的研究表明，与空间注意有关的额顶叶网络可能在注意加工中发挥更广泛的作用。然而，由于功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）的方法限制和缺乏猕猴单细胞研究，该网络在基于特征的注意力中的作用尚不清楚。通过结合行为、神经成像和电生理学的方法，本研究将更明确地定义额叶和顶叶区域在控制基于特征的注意力中的作用。目的1：使用功能磁共振成像适应范式识别人类额叶和顶叶皮层中有助于特征和空间注意力的区域。目标2：使用几乎相同的实验设计和方法，确定灵长类动物大脑中与人类大脑区域具有相似反应特性的区域。目的3：利用功能磁共振成像引导的单单元记录，表征灵长类动物中涉及特征注意的区域的神经元反应特性，特别是那些与空间注意重叠的区域。这些实验将弥合人类神经活动的间接测量（fMRI）和猴子单细胞研究之间的差距，并促进我们对自上而下的注意力控制的神经机制和网络结构的理解。从自然环境中选择相关信息是指导行为的最基本的认知能力之一。视觉注意力在健康的大脑功能中起着重要作用，在各种大脑疾病中，如多动症、精神分裂症和中风后的空间半忽视，视觉注意力被破坏。对人脑正常注意功能机制的更完整描述将为评估和减轻这些功能障碍提供一个平台。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attention is a critical component of visual perception that allows the brain to allocate its limited resources depending on current task demands. Most research has focused on our ability to covertly attend to a specific region within the visual field (spatial attention), but we can also attend to a specific visual feature, independent of spatial position (feature-based attention). Studies of spatial attention have identified a network of higher-order areas in frontal and parietal cortex that appear to be the source of these modulating signals. Recent studies suggest that the frontoparietal network implicated in spatial attention may play a more general role in attentional processing. However, the role of this network in feature-based attention remains unclear due to methodological limitations of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the lack of single cell studies in the macaque. Using a combined behavioral, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological approach, this proposal will address the following specific aims to more clearly define the role of frontal and parietal regions in the control of feature-based attention. Aim 1: Identify regions of human frontal and parietal cortex that contribute to feature- and space-based attention using an fMRI-adaptation paradigm. Aim 2: Identify regions of the primate brain that have similar response properties compared to the human regions using virtually the same experimental design and methods. Aim 3: Characterize the neuronal response properties in regions involved in feature-based attention, particularly those that overlap with spatial attention, in primates using fMRI-guided single-unit recordings. These experiments will bridge the gap between indirect measure of neural activity in humans (fMRI) and single cell studies in monkeys and advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms and the network architecture contributing to top-down attentional control. The selection of relevant information from the natural environment is one of the most fundamental cognitive abilities for guiding behavior. Visual attention plays a prominent role in healthy brain functioning and is disrupted in a wide variety of brain disorders, such as ADHD, schizophrenia and spatial hemineglect following stroke. A more complete characterization of the mechanisms subserving normal attentional functions in the human brain will provide a platform from which to evaluate and alleviate these dysfunctions.