title: The activation of interactive attentional networks.
abstract: Attention can be conceptualized as comprising the functions of alerting, orienting, and executive control. Although the independence of these functions has been demonstrated, the neural mechanisms underlying their interactions remain unclear. Using the revised attention network test and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined cortical and subcortical activity related to these attentional functions and their interactions. Results showed that areas in the extended frontoparietal network (FPN), including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, frontal eye fields (FEF), areas near and along the intraparietal sulcus, anterior cingulate and anterior insular cortices, basal ganglia, and thalamus were activated across multiple attentional functions. Specifically, the alerting function was associated with activation in the locus coeruleus (LC) in addition to regions in the FPN. The orienting functions were associated with activation in the superior colliculus (SC) and the FEF. The executive control function was mainly associated with activation of the FPN and cerebellum. The interaction effect of alerting by executive control was also associated with activation of the FPN, while the interaction effect of orienting validity by executive control was mainly associated with the activation in the pulvinar. The current findings demonstrate that cortical and specific subcortical areas play a pivotal role in the implementation of attentional functions and underlie their dynamic interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China; Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA. Electronic address: xuanbin@mail.ahnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA; The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa-Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mackie
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spagna
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, the First Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Yanghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hof
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queens College, The City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA; The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA. Electronic address: jin.fan@qc.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alerting; Attentional networks; Executive control; Orienting; fMRI