The Neural Basis of Executive Control of Internally-Directed Attention

内部定向注意力执行控制的神经基础

• 批准号: 8003432
• 负责人: Jessica Renee Andrews-Hanna
• 金额: $ 4.76万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-02-01 至 2014-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8003432
• 关键词: Alzheimer' s Disease; Anatomy; Attention; Automobile Driving; Behavior; Behavioral; Brain; Brain region; Cities; Cognitive; Development; Elderly; Failure; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Future; Goals; Human; Impaired cognition; Knowledge; Longevity; Memory; Meta-Analysis; Nature; Play; Population; Process; Rehabilitation therapy; Role; Series; System; Thinking; base; cognitive training; directed attention; executive function; improved; insight; internal control; neuromechanism; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; research study; young adult

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Executive control of internal mentation (i.e. reflecting upon one's past, thinking about one's future, or engaging in other introspective cognitive processes) is critical for successful behavior. Failures to appropriately enhance or suppress attention to internal information form the basis of attentional lapses and memory failures in healthy young and old adults, and represent a hallmark of cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. Despite its utmost significance, the neural basis of executive control of internal mentation remains poorly characterized and represents the primary objective of the present proposal. In a series of three main experiments, we aim to 1) examine the anatomy and function of the brain's "default network," a brain system thought to play a major role in internal mentation, 2) investigate the neural underpinnings of sustained and transient top-down control of internal mentation separately from external attention and 3) examine the neural mechanisms facilitating rapid switching between external and internal (introspective) modes of attention. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) meta-analysis will be first conducted to examine the overlap between the default network and several different introspective tasks to gain insight into the network's overarching function. Next, an fMRI experiment that manipulates demand for control (easy vs. hard trials) and the nature of the task-relevant information (external vs. internal trials) will examine whether similar prefrontal mechanisms bias attention to both introspective and external information. Finally, a separate experiment will examine the behavioral signatures of rapid switching between external and introspective modes of attention as well as the hierarchical neural mechanisms that support this ability. Brain regions that play a role in rapid switching within domains (i.e. switching between different tasks of a similar nature) will be compared to those regions that underlie rapid switching between domains (i.e. switching between internal and external tasks). Knowledge of the neural mechanisms that govern executive control of internal mentation will provide additional insight into the causes of successful and unsuccessful behavior in young adults, will help explain the mechanisms that underlie distractibility and memory failures in advanced aging and AD, and will facilitate the development of cognitive training and rehabilitation paradigms applicable to these populations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this proposal is to understand how humans regulate their internal thought processes. Different situations require either enhancement or suppression of internal thought (i.e. taking an exam or driving in a busy city, respectively), yet it remains to be understood these processes are controlled. Knowledge of these mechanisms would provide numerous benefits to older adults by facilitating cognitive training therapies that may reduce distractibility and improve memory over the course of one's lifespan.

描述（由申请人提供）：内部意识的执行控制（即反思过去，思考未来或参与其他内省的认知过程）对于成功行为至关重要。未能适当增强或抑制对内部信息的关注构成健康年轻人和老年人的注意力失败和记忆失败的基础，并代表了阿尔茨海默氏病认知功能障碍的标志。尽管它具有最大的意义，但内部思维执行控制的神经基础仍然很差，并且代表了本提案的主要目标。在一系列三个主要实验中，我们的目的是1）检查大脑“默认网络”的解剖学和功能，一个被认为在内部意识中起主要作用的大脑系统，2）研究，2）研究持续和短暂的内部预测的神经基础与外部注意力和3）的神经机制在外部和3）之间进行了快速切换（促进外部和内部）的转换（促进了异型）。将首先进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）荟萃分析，以检查默认网络与几个不同的内省任务之间的重叠，以深入了解网络的总体功能。接下来，一项功能磁共振成像的实验，该实验操纵对控制的需求（简单与硬试验）以及与任务相关的信息的性质（外部与内部试验）的性质将检查是否相似的前额叶机制是否会偏向于内在和外部信息。最后，一个单独的实验将检查外部和内省关注模式之间快速切换以及支持该能力的层次神经机制的行为特征。将在域内快速切换（即在类似性质的不同任务之间切换）中发挥作用的大脑区域将与那些域之间快速切换的区域进行比较（即内部和外部任务之间切换）。了解管理内部意识的执行控制的神经机制的知识将为年轻人的成功和失败行为的原因提供更多的见解，这将有助于解释其在高级衰老和AD中分散注意力和记忆失败的机制，并将促进适用于这些人群的认知培训和康复符的发展。 公共卫生相关性：该提案的目的是了解人类如何规范其内部思维过程。不同的情况需要增强或抑制内部思想（即分别在繁忙的城市参加考试或开车），但仍有待理解这些过程的控制。了解这些机制将通过促进认知训练疗法为老年人带来许多好处，从而可以减少分散注意力并在整个生命周期内改善记忆力。