title: A direct prefrontotectal tract against distractibility in the human brain.
abstract: Distractibility, which can be defined as an attention deficit in which orientation toward irrelevant targets can be hardly inhibited, is commonly related to a dysfunction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Here, we show that increased distractibility, observed in a patient with an exceptionally small lesion located in the upper brainstem, may result from the interruption of a direct tract that connects the prefrontal cortex to the superior colliculus, a structure involved in both eye movement control and attentional shifts.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U289 and Service d'Explorations Fonctionnelles du Système Nerveux, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France. gaymard@ccr.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gaymard
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: François
authors.forename: Christoph J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ploner
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Condy
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rivaud-Péchoux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012438:Saccades; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000166:cytology*; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000166:cytology*