Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, United States.
Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, United States; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Neuroimage. 2017 Aug 15;157:45-60. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.05.048. Epub 2017 May 26.
The neural mechanisms by which intentions are transformed into actions remain poorly understood. We investigated the network mechanisms underlying spontaneous voluntary decisions about where to focus visual-spatial attention (willed attention). Graph-theoretic analysis of two independent datasets revealed that regions activated during willed attention form a set of functionally-distinct networks corresponding to the frontoparietal network, the cingulo-opercular network, and the dorsal attention network. Contrasting willed attention with instructed attention (where attention is directed by external cues), we observed that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was allied with the dorsal attention network in instructed attention, but shifted connectivity during willed attention to interact with the cingulo-opercular network, which then mediated communications between the frontoparietal network and the dorsal attention network. Behaviorally, greater connectivity in network hubs, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the inferior parietal lobule, was associated with faster reaction times. These results, shown to be consistent across the two independent datasets, uncover the dynamic organization of functionally-distinct networks engaged to support intentional acts.
意图转化为行动的神经机制仍知之甚少。我们研究了自发的视觉空间注意力焦点（意愿注意力）的自愿决策背后的网络机制。对两个独立数据集的图论分析表明，在意愿注意力期间激活的区域形成了一组功能不同的网络，对应于额顶网络、扣带眼动网络和背侧注意网络。与指令性注意力（注意力由外部线索引导）相比，我们观察到背侧前扣带皮层在指令性注意力中与背侧注意网络相关联，但在意愿注意力期间，其连接性发生变化，与扣带眼动网络相互作用，然后介导额顶网络和背侧注意网络之间的通信。行为上，网络枢纽（包括背外侧前额叶皮层、背侧前扣带皮层和下顶叶）的连接性越强，反应时间越快。这些结果在两个独立的数据集中得到了一致的证明，揭示了支持意向行为的功能不同的网络的动态组织。
