Dataset Information

Neural Mechanisms of Sustained Attention Are Rhythmic.

ABSTRACT: Classic models of attention suggest that sustained neural firing constitutes a neural correlate of sustained attention. However, recent evidence indicates that behavioral performance fluctuates over time, exhibiting temporal dynamics that closely resemble the spectral features of ongoing, oscillatory brain activity. Therefore, it has been proposed that periodic neuronal excitability fluctuations might shape attentional allocation and overt behavior. However, empirical evidence to support this notion is sparse. Here, we address this issue by examining data from large-scale subdural recordings, using two different attention tasks that track perceptual ability at high temporal resolution. Our results reveal that perceptual outcome varies as a function of the theta phase even in states of sustained spatial attention. These effects were robust at the single-subject level, suggesting that rhythmic perceptual sampling is an inherent property of the frontoparietal attention network. Collectively, these findings support the notion that the functional architecture of top-down attention is intrinsically rhythmic.

SUBMITTER: Helfrich RF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6286091 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Neural Mechanisms of Sustained Attention Are Rhythmic.

Helfrich Randolph F RF Fiebelkorn Ian C IC Szczepanski Sara M SM Lin Jack J JJ Parvizi Josef J Knight Robert T RT Kastner Sabine S

Neuron 20180801 4

Classic models of attention suggest that sustained neural firing constitutes a neural correlate of sustained attention. However, recent evidence indicates that behavioral performance fluctuates over time, exhibiting temporal dynamics that closely resemble the spectral features of ongoing, oscillatory brain activity. Therefore, it has been proposed that periodic neuronal excitability fluctuations might shape attentional allocation and overt behavior. However, empirical evidence to support this no ...[more]

PMID: 30138591

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Project description:ObjectiveDisruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), characterized by severe irritability, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are highly comorbid. This is the first study to characterize neural and behavioral similarities and differences in attentional functioning across these disorders.MethodTwenty-seven healthy volunteers, 31 patients with DMDD, and 25 patients with ADHD (8 to 18 years old) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging attention task. Group differences in intra-subject variability in reaction time (RT) were examined. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging analytic approach precisely quantified trial-wise associations between RT and brain activity.ResultsGroup differences manifested in the relation between RT and brain activity (all regions: p < .01, F > 2.54, partial eta-squared [ηp2] > 0.06). Patients with DMDD showed specific alterations in the right paracentral lobule, superior parietal lobule, fusiform gyrus, and cerebellar culmen. In contrast, patients with DMDD and those with ADHD exhibited blunted compensatory increases in activity on long RT trials. In addition, youth with DMDD exhibited increased activity in the postcentral gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and cerebellar tonsil and declive (all regions: p < .05, F > 2.46, ηp2 > 0.06). Groups in the imaging sample did not differ significantly in intra-subject variability in RT (F2,79 = 2.664, p = .076, ηp2 = 0.063), although intra-subject variability in RT was significantly increased in youth with DMDD and ADHD when including those not meeting strict motion and accuracy criteria for imaging analysis (F2,96 = 4.283, p = .017, ηp2 = 0.083).ConclusionPatients with DMDD exhibited specific alterations in the relation between pre-stimulus brain activity and RT. Patients with DMDD and those with ADHD exhibited similar blunting of compensatory neural activity in frontal, parietal, and other regions. In addition, patients with DMDD showed increased RT variability compared with healthy youth. This work is the first to identify common and unique behavioral and neural signatures of DMDD and ADHD.

Dataset Information

Neural Mechanisms of Sustained Attention Are Rhythmic.

Publications

Neural Mechanisms of Sustained Attention Are Rhythmic.

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