Fifty years integrating neurobiology and psychology to study attention

Posner, Michael I.; Rothbart, Mary K.

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108574

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…A basic model, which is partially supported anatomically, separates alerting (arousal and vigilance), orienting (selection of stimuli) and executive control (decision-making and volitional management) (Petersen and Posner 2012). This tripartite model is well supported on a general neuroanatomical and functional ground, and is useful to stimulate the debate concerning the existence of distinct attentional subsystems, influenced by different biological variables and environmental conditions (Posner 2023;Posner and Rothbart 2023;Rueda et al 2023). This is particularly important when we recognize that human evolution, as for the evolution of most taxa, is not a linear and gradual progression, but a bushy network formed by alternative, parallel and independent branches.…”

Section: Cognitive Archeology and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Archeology and the Attentional System: An Evolutionary Mismatch for the Genus Homo

Bruner

2023

J. Intell.

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Brain evolution is a key topic in evolutionary anthropology. Unfortunately, in this sense the fossil record can usually support limited anatomical and behavioral inferences. Nonetheless, information from fossil species is, in any case, particularly valuable, because it represents the only direct proof of cerebral and behavioral changes throughout the human phylogeny. Recently, archeology and psychology have been integrated in the field of cognitive archeology, which aims to interpret current cognitive models according to the evidence we have on extinct human species. In this article, such evidence is reviewed in order to consider whether and to what extent the archeological record can supply information regarding changes of the attentional system in different taxa of the human genus. In particular, behavioral correlates associated with the fronto-parietal system and working memory are employed to consider recent changes in our species, Homo sapiens, and a mismatch between attentional and visuospatial ability is hypothesized. These two functional systems support present-moment awareness and mind-wandering, respectively, and their evolutionary unbalance can explain a structural sensitivity to psychological distress in our species.

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Section: Cognitive Archeology and Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Archeology and the Attentional System: An Evolutionary Mismatch for the Genus Homo

Bruner

2023

J. Intell.

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“…Attention function serves several purposes, such as maintaining a state of alertness, picking out relevant information from sensory input, and regulating conflicts (Posner & Rothbart, 2007). The attention networks consist of dispersed computational nodes located in various brain regions that often collaborate with networks responsible for sensory perception, memory, and various other functions (Posner, 2023;Posner & Rothbart, 2023).…”

Section: Attentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

RDoC Framework Through the Lens of Predictive Processing: Focusing on Cognitive System Domain

Khorrami,

Toghi,

Mohammadzadeh

2023

Preprint

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In response to shortcomings of the current classification system in translating discoveries from basic science to clinical applications, NIMH offers a new framework for studying mental health disorders called Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). This framework holds a multidimensional outlook on psychopathologies focusing on functional domains of behavior and their implementing neural circuits. In parallel, the Predictive Processing (PP) framework stands as a leading theory of human brain function, offering a unified explanation for various types of information processing in the brain. While both frameworks share an interest in studying psychopathologies based on pathophysiology, their integration still needs to be explored. Here, we argued in favor of the explanatory power of PP to be a groundwork for the RDoC matrix in validating its constructs, creating testable hypotheses about mechanistic interactions between molecular biomarkers and clinical traits, and finally, considering developmental trajectories and environmental factors in psychopathologies. Together, predictive processing may serve as a foundation for achieving the goals of the RDoC framework.

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“…These ERP and fMRI studies, and the many to follow using this logic, punctuate the theoretical distinction between voluntary control and stimulus selection and how they can be separately measured and studied. Studies using cuing methods to investigate voluntary attentional control have flourished over the past 25 years, and the paradigm has become a gold standard methodology (Corbetta and Shulman, 2011;Fiebelkorn and Kastner, 2020;Posner and Rothbart, 2023).…”

Section: Dissecting Voluntary Attentional Control From Selective Perc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Placing willed attention in context: a review of attention and free will

Nadra,

Mangun

2023

Front. Cognit.

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Attention is the ability to focus one's awareness on relevant events and objects while ignoring distracting ones. Laboratory studies of top-down voluntary attention commonly use predictive or instructional cues to direct attention. However, in real world scenarios, voluntary attention is not necessarily externally cued, but may be focused by internal, self-generated processes. The voluntary focusing of attention in the absence of external guidance has been referred to as “willed attention,” a term borrowed from the literature on willed motor actions. In a fashion similar to studies of willed (self-initiated) actions, during willed attention, participants are given the freedom to deploy attention based on their own free choices. Electrophysiological studies have shown that during willed attention, ongoing neural activity biases willed attention decisions on a moment-to-moment basis as reflected in transient patterns of brain electrical activity that predict where participants will later choose to focus their attention. Brain imaging studies have revealed that compared to cued attention, willed attention involves additional frontal cortical structures, which interact with the classic attentional control networks of the human brain to produce a modified network organization for willed attention control. In this introduction to willed attention, we briefly review the fields of voluntary attention and self-initiated motor actions, in order to describe willed attention and its neural correlates as they relate to the broader concepts of attention and volition.

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Fifty years integrating neurobiology and psychology to study attention

Cited by 5 publications

References 50 publications

Cognitive Archeology and the Attentional System: An Evolutionary Mismatch for the Genus Homo

Cognitive Archeology and the Attentional System: An Evolutionary Mismatch for the Genus Homo

RDoC Framework Through the Lens of Predictive Processing: Focusing on Cognitive System Domain

Placing willed attention in context: a review of attention and free will

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