Linked Life Data

16530842

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/16530842

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-6-20
pubmed:abstractText
Increases in attentional effort are defined as the motivated activation of attentional systems in response to detrimental challenges on attentional performance, such as the presentation of distractors, prolonged time-on-task, changing target stimulus characteristics and stimulus presentation parameters, circadian phase shifts, stress or sickness. Increases in attentional effort are motivated by the expected performance outcome; in the absence of such motivation, attentional performance continues to decline or may cease altogether. The beneficial effects of increased attentional effort are due in part to the activation of top-down mechanisms that act to optimize input detection and processing, thereby stabilizing or recovering attentional performance in response to challenges. Following a description of the psychological construct "attentional effort", evidence is reviewed indicating that increases in the activity of cortical cholinergic inputs represent a major component of the neuronal circuitry mediating increases in attentional effort. A neuronal model describes how error detection and reward loss, indicating declining performance, are integrated with motivational mechanisms on the basis of neuronal circuits between prefrontal/anterior cingulate and mesolimbic regions. The cortical cholinergic input system is activated by projections of mesolimbic structures to the basal forebrain cholinergic system. In prefrontal regions, increases in cholinergic activity are hypothesized to contribute to the activation of the anterior attention system and associated executive functions, particularly the top-down optimization of input processing in sensory regions. Moreover, and influenced in part by prefrontal projections to the basal forebrain, increases in cholinergic activity in sensory and other posterior cortical regions contribute directly to the modification of receptive field properties or the suppression of contextual information and, therefore, to the mediation of top-down effects. The definition of attentional effort as a cognitive incentive, and the description of a neuronal circuitry model that integrates brain systems involved in performance monitoring, the processing of incentives, activation of attention systems and modulation of input functions, suggest that 'attentional effort' represents a viable construct for cognitive neuroscience research.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0165-0173
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
51
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
145-60
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
More attention must be paid: the neurobiology of attentional effort.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, USA. msarter@umich.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural