A direct prefrontotectal tract against distractibility in the human brain.
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.
Gaymard
Bertrand
B
INSERM U289 and Service d'Explorations Fonctionnelles du Système Nerveux, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France. gaymard@ccr.jussieu.fr
François
Chantal
C
Ploner
Christoph J
CJ
Condy
Carine
C
Rivaud-Péchoux
Sophie
S
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*