The Neural Basis of Executive Control of Internally-Directed Attention

内部定向注意力执行控制的神经基础

• 批准号: 8003432
• 负责人: Jessica Renee Andrews-Hanna
• 金额: $ 4.76万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-02-01 至 2014-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8003432
• 关键词: Alzheimer' s Disease; Anatomy; Attention; Automobile Driving; Behavior; Behavioral; Brain; Brain region; Cities; Cognitive; Development; Elderly; Failure; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Future; Goals; Human; Impaired cognition; Knowledge; Longevity; Memory; Meta-Analysis; Nature; Play; Population; Process; Rehabilitation therapy; Role; Series; System; Thinking; base; cognitive training; directed attention; executive function; improved; insight; internal control; neuromechanism; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; research study; young adult

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Executive control of internal mentation (i.e. reflecting upon one's past, thinking about one's future, or engaging in other introspective cognitive processes) is critical for successful behavior. Failures to appropriately enhance or suppress attention to internal information form the basis of attentional lapses and memory failures in healthy young and old adults, and represent a hallmark of cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. Despite its utmost significance, the neural basis of executive control of internal mentation remains poorly characterized and represents the primary objective of the present proposal. In a series of three main experiments, we aim to 1) examine the anatomy and function of the brain's "default network," a brain system thought to play a major role in internal mentation, 2) investigate the neural underpinnings of sustained and transient top-down control of internal mentation separately from external attention and 3) examine the neural mechanisms facilitating rapid switching between external and internal (introspective) modes of attention. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) meta-analysis will be first conducted to examine the overlap between the default network and several different introspective tasks to gain insight into the network's overarching function. Next, an fMRI experiment that manipulates demand for control (easy vs. hard trials) and the nature of the task-relevant information (external vs. internal trials) will examine whether similar prefrontal mechanisms bias attention to both introspective and external information. Finally, a separate experiment will examine the behavioral signatures of rapid switching between external and introspective modes of attention as well as the hierarchical neural mechanisms that support this ability. Brain regions that play a role in rapid switching within domains (i.e. switching between different tasks of a similar nature) will be compared to those regions that underlie rapid switching between domains (i.e. switching between internal and external tasks). Knowledge of the neural mechanisms that govern executive control of internal mentation will provide additional insight into the causes of successful and unsuccessful behavior in young adults, will help explain the mechanisms that underlie distractibility and memory failures in advanced aging and AD, and will facilitate the development of cognitive training and rehabilitation paradigms applicable to these populations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this proposal is to understand how humans regulate their internal thought processes. Different situations require either enhancement or suppression of internal thought (i.e. taking an exam or driving in a busy city, respectively), yet it remains to be understood these processes are controlled. Knowledge of these mechanisms would provide numerous benefits to older adults by facilitating cognitive training therapies that may reduce distractibility and improve memory over the course of one's lifespan.

描述（由申请人提供）：内部心理状态的执行控制（即反思一个人的过去，思考一个人的未来，或参与其他内省认知过程）对于成功的行为至关重要。未能适当增强或抑制对内部信息的注意力是健康年轻人和老年人注意力缺失和记忆力衰退的基础，也是阿尔茨海默病认知功能障碍的一个标志。尽管具有极其重要的意义，但内部心理状态的执行控制的神经基础仍然很少被描述，并且代表了本提案的主要目标。在一系列的三个主要实验中，我们的目标是 1）检查大脑“默认网络”的解剖结构和功能，该大脑系统被认为在内部心理状态中发挥着重要作用，2）研究持续和短暂顶部的神经基础-将内部心理状态的控制与外部注意力分开，3）检查促进外部和内部（内省）注意力模式之间快速切换的神经机制。首先将进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）荟萃分析，以检查默认网络和几个不同的内省任务之间的重叠，以深入了解网络的总体功能。接下来，操纵控制需求（简单试验与困难试验）和任务相关信息的性质（外部试验与内部试验）的功能磁共振成像实验将检查类似的前额叶机制是否会偏向于内省和外部信息。最后，一个单独的实验将检查外部和内省注意力模式之间快速切换的行为特征，以及支持这种能力的分层神经机制。在域内快速切换（即在相似性质的不同任务之间切换）中发挥作用的大脑区域将与在域之间快速切换（即在内部和外部任务之间切换）的那些区域进行比较。了解控制内部心理状态的执行控制的神经机制将有助于深入了解年轻人成功和不成功行为的原因，将有助于解释老年和 AD 中注意力分散和记忆障碍的机制，并将促进发展适用于这些人群的认知训练和康复范例。 公共卫生相关性：该提案的目标是了解人类如何调节其内部思维过程。不同的情况需要增强或抑制内部思维（即分别参加考试或在繁忙的城市开车），但仍需了解这些过程是受控制的。了解这些机制将为老年人带来许多好处，通过促进认知训练疗法，可以减少注意力分散并提高人一生中的记忆力。