title: Modeling neural correlates of auditory attention in evoked potentials using corticothalamic feedback dynamics.
abstract: Auditory evoked cortical potentials (AECP) are well established as diagnostic tool in audiology and gain more and more impact in experimental neuropsychology, neuro-science, and psychiatry, e.g., for the attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, or for studying the tinnitus decompensation. The modulation of AECP due to exogenous and endogenous attention plays a major role in many clinical applications and has experimentally been studied in neuropsychology. However the relation of corticothalamic feedback dynamics to focal and non-focal attention and its large-scale effect reflected in AECPs is far from being understood. In this paper, we model neural correlates of auditory attention reflected in AECPs using corticothalamic feedback dynamics. We present a mapping of a recently developed multiscale model of evoked potentials to the hearing path and discuss for the first time its neurofunctionality in terms of corticothalamic feedback loops related to focal and non-focal attention. Our model reinforced recent experimental results related to online attention monitoring using AECPs with application as objective tinnitus decompensation measure. It is concluded that our model presents a promising approach to gain a deeper understanding of the neurodynamics of auditory attention and might be use as an efficient forward model to reinforce hypotheses that are obtained from experimental paradigms involving AECPs.
authors.affiliation: Computational Diagnostics and Biocybernetics Unit at Saarland University, Homburg/Saarbruecken, Germany. trenado@cdb-unit.de
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trenado
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haab
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Strauss
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000503:physiopathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000503:physiopathology