Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Trends Neurosci. 2011 Apr;34(4):210-24. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2011.02.003. Epub 2011 Mar 23.
Attention exhibits characteristic neural signatures in brain regions that process sensory signals. An important area of future research is to understand the nature of top-down signals that facilitate attentional guidance towards behaviorally relevant locations and features. In this review, we discuss recent studies that have made progress towards understanding: (i) the brain structures and circuits involved in attentional allocation; (ii) top-down attention pathways, particularly as elucidated by microstimulation and lesion studies; (iii) top-down modulatory influences involving subcortical structures and reward systems; (iv) plausible substrates and embodiments of top-down signals; and (v) information processing and theoretical constraints that might be helpful in guiding future experiments. Understanding top-down attention is crucial for elucidating the mechanisms by which we can filter sensory information to pay attention to the most behaviorally relevant events.
注意在处理感觉信号的大脑区域表现出特征性的神经特征。未来研究的一个重要领域是理解有助于将注意力引导到行为相关位置和特征的自上而下信号的本质。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了最近的研究进展，这些研究旨在理解：（i）参与注意力分配的大脑结构和回路；（ii）自上而下的注意力通路，特别是通过微刺激和损伤研究阐明的通路；（iii）涉及皮质下结构和奖励系统的自上而下的调制影响；（iv）自上而下信号的可能基质和体现；以及（v）可能有助于指导未来实验的信息处理和理论约束。理解自上而下的注意力对于阐明我们可以过滤感觉信息以关注最具行为相关性的事件的机制至关重要。
