Büchel C, Josephs O, Rees G, Turner R, Frith C D, Friston K J
The Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
Brain. 1998 Jul;121 ( Pt 7):1281-94. doi: 10.1093/brain/121.7.1281.
Attention can enhance or modulate neural responses to stimuli at early and late stages of sensory processing. We were interested in the modulatory effect of attention to visual motion on cortical responses as measured by functional MRI. Subjects were scanned during repeated presentations of identical stimuli (visual motion) while only the attentional component of the task was varied. Enhanced haemodynamic responses during attentive conditions defined an occipitoparietofrontal system, including sensory and association areas, as well as the medial thalamus and superior colliculus. Attentional modulation was not restricted to extrastriate areas (including V3a and the V5 complex) but was also evident, to a lesser degree, in early visual areas close to the calcarine fissure (V1/V2 border). Attention-related enhancement of cortical responsiveness is discussed in terms of data that implicate modulatory short-term changes in synaptic efficacy and reciprocal connections between striate, extrastriate, parietal and frontal areas. Given the similarity of our attentional network to that controlling eye movements, the results of this study are in accord with theories linking oculomotor control and attention.
注意力可以在感觉加工的早期和晚期增强或调节对刺激的神经反应。我们感兴趣的是，通过功能磁共振成像测量，对视觉运动的注意力对皮质反应的调节作用。在重复呈现相同刺激（视觉运动）的过程中对受试者进行扫描，同时仅改变任务的注意力成分。在注意力集中的条件下增强的血流动力学反应定义了一个枕顶叶额叶系统，包括感觉区和联合区，以及内侧丘脑和上丘。注意力调节并不局限于纹外区（包括V3a和V5复合体），在靠近距状裂的早期视觉区域（V1/V2边界）也有较明显的调节作用。根据涉及突触效能的调节性短期变化以及纹状、纹外、顶叶和额叶区域之间相互连接的数据，讨论了与注意力相关的皮质反应性增强。鉴于我们的注意力网络与控制眼球运动的网络相似，本研究结果与将眼球运动控制和注意力联系起来的理论一致。
