Neuronal oscillations, attention, and normalization circuits

注意力有助于我们详细感知外部世界的能力，并帮助我们了解哪些方面与成功的行为有关。过去20-30年的研究揭示了注意力是如何在神经元层面改变信息处理的，但这些研究经常产生相互矛盾的结果。注意力增加了代表被关注对象的神经元的神经元活动。注意还可以改变不同神经元回路之间的节律性活动水平，从而改善通道之间的交流。这种有节奏的活动被认为在认知功能中起着重要的作用，如注意力、知觉、工作记忆和其他认知功能。这种节律性的破坏与精神分裂症、自闭症、阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病的认知缺陷有关。尽管有这些见解，但我们对神经元活动的增加或节律活动的改变是如何被介导或控制的了解甚少。我们对其中涉及的神经回路仍然知之甚少。为什么在不同的大脑区域发现了差异，或者为什么细微的不同任务会对大脑活动的这些测量产生非常不同的影响，我们同样也非常有限。最近的理论模型提出了一种机制来调和这些冲突。他们提出，注意力作用于大脑中的抑制（正常化）回路，从而控制活动水平和节律水平。尽管这些模型在计算机上的解释取得了成功，但仍需要实验验证。通过这样做，我们将更详细地了解参与认知的不同回路，并对认知功能障碍的成因有更机械的了解。

Attention aids our ability to perceive our external world in detail and to learn which aspects are relevant for successful behavior. Studies over the last 20-30 years have revealed how attention alters the processing of information at the neuronal level, but the studies have often generated conflicting results. Attention increases the neuronal activity of neurons that represent the attended object. Attention can also change the level of rhythmic activity between different neuronal circuits and thereby improve the communication between channels. This Rhythmic activity has been proposed to play an important role in cognitive functions such as attention, perception, working memory, and other cognitive functions. Disruption of this rhythmicity is associated with cognitive deficits as seen in schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer disease and Parkinson's disease. Despite these insights, we nevertheless have a poor understanding how increases of neuronal activity or alterations of rhythmic activity are mediated or controlled. We still know little about the neuronal circuits involved. We equally have very limited insight why differences are found in different brain areas or why subtly different tasks can yield very different effects on these measures of brain activity. Recent theoretical models propose a mechanism to reconcile these conflicts. They propose that attention acts on inhibitory (normalization) circuits in the brain and thus controls activity levels and rhythmicity levels. These models, despite their explanatory success in silico, need experimental validation. By doing so, we will gain a more detailed understanding of different circuits involved in cognition, and also obtain a more mechanistic understanding in the genesis of cognitive dysfunctions.