Intrinsic fluctuations in sustained attention and distractor processing.
Although sustaining a moderate level of attention is critical in daily life, evidence suggests that attention is not deployed consistently, but rather fluctuates from moment to moment between optimal and suboptimal states. To better characterize these states in humans, the present study uses a gradual-onset continuous performance task with irrelevant background distractors to explore the relationship among behavioral fluctuations, brain activity, and, in particular, the processing of visual distractors. Using fMRI, we found that reaction time variability, a continuous measure of attentional instability, was positively correlated with activity in task-positive networks and negatively correlated with activity in the task-negative default mode network. We also observed greater processing of distractor images during more stable and less error prone "in the zone" epochs compared with suboptimal "out of the zone" epochs of the task. Overall, the data suggest that optimal states of attention are accomplished with more efficient and potentially less effortful recruitment of task-relevant resources, freeing remaining resources to process task irrelevant features of the environment.
Veterans Administration Boston Healthcare System, Neuroimaging Center for Veterans, Boston, Massachusetts 02130, Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, Yale University, Department of Psychology, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, and Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington 98108.
Michael
M
Esterman
Monica D
MD
Rosenberg
Sarah K
SK
Noonan
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D010100:Oxygen
attentional fluctuations; attentional states; distraction; fMRI; repetition attenuation; sustained attention