title: Theta-band functional connectivity in the dorsal fronto-parietal network predicts goal-directed attention.
abstract: Functional imaging studies have identified a dorsal fronto-parietal network whose activity reflects shifts of attention in space and is sensitive to the behavioural relevance of stimuli. In patients with severe deficits of spatial attention this network is often structurally preserved. Here, we show that resting-state EEG functional connectivity in the dorsal fronto-parietal network predicts impaired goal-directed processing in stroke patients with spatial attention deficits. Eleven right-hemisphere damaged patients with different degrees of contralesional spatial deficits and sixteen age-matched healthy controls performed a visuo-spatial task which required them to react to a central target while ignoring task-relevant distracters presented left or right of fixation. Unlike controls, performance of patients was not modulated by the goal-relevance of peripheral distracters. Compared to controls patients showed a significant decrease in theta-band connectivity between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the right superior parietal region. Moreover, in both groups we observed a significant correlation between fronto-parietal connectivity and the behavioural effect of distracter relevance. These findings indicate that fronto-parietal functional connectivity is impaired in patients with spatial attention deficits and predicts effects of goal-relevant information on target processing.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospitals Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Julia.Fellrath@hcuge.ch.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fellrath
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anaïs
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mottaz
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospitals Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schnider
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospitals Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Adrian G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Guggisberg
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Division of Neurorehabilitation, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospitals Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Radek
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ptak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011930:Reaction Time; D012146:Rest; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D013826:Theta Rhythm; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
keywords: EEG; Fronto-parietal network; Functional connectivity; Goal relevance; Spatial attention; Theta-band