title: Frontal eye field involvement in sustaining visual attention: evidence from transcranial magnetic stimulation.
abstract: The frontal eye field (FEF), particularly the right FEF, is broadly implicated in top-down control of transient acts of attention, but less is known about its involvement in sustained attention. Although neuroimaging studies of sustained attention tasks commonly find FEF activation, it is unclear how this region contributes to moment-to-moment fluctuations in sustained performance. We sought to determine if the FEF plays a critical role in sustained attention, and if that role differs between periods of worse performance (out-of-the-zone) and periods of better performance (in-the-zone). We used offline 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily attenuate either right or left FEF excitability while participants performed a go/no-go sustained attention task (the gradual onset continuous performance task). The results demonstrate that following TMS to the right FEF, sustained attention during in-the-zone periods significantly worsened both in terms of lower accuracy and increased reaction time variability. In contrast, applying TMS to the left FEF did not significantly affect accuracy or variability. These results demonstrate that the right FEF plays a crucial role in supporting optimal sustained attention.
authors: Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory & Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center (NeRVe), Veterans Administration, Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: esterman@bu.edu.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Esterman
authors: Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory & Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center (NeRVe), Veterans Administration, Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
authors: Guanyu
authors: G
authors: Liu
authors: Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory & Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center (NeRVe), Veterans Administration, Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
authors: Hidefusa
authors: H
authors: Okabe
authors: Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory & Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center (NeRVe), Veterans Administration, Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Reagan
authors: Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory & Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center (NeRVe), Veterans Administration, Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Thai
authors: Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory & Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center (NeRVe), Veterans Administration, Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors: Joe
authors: J
authors: DeGutis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult