Project founded by the National Science Center (NCN) of Poland (2023-2027, grant Opus 23, UMO-2022/45/B/HS6/01107).
Principal investigator: Dariusz Asanowicz
ABSTRACT
Although “everyone knows what attention is,” the inner workings of the underlying neural mechanisms have remained elusive. How does the brain give rise to attention? Attempting to answer this question, we aim to develop a mechanistic and causal account of the oscillatory activity underlying attentional phenomena. Neural oscillations are a brain’s fundamental functional feature. Accordingly, selective attention is an intrinsically oscillatory process, achieved through rhythmic top-down inter-regional modulations, broadcasted in the alpha (8-12 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) frequencies. Alpha and theta rhythms, and their spatio-temporal functional propagations across the brain, are therefore key biophysiological components of the mechanism of attentional control over sensorimotor processing, and so they are the main focus of this project.
Specifically, the goal of this project is to investigate the functional and causal roles of alpha and theta oscillatory activity in terms of four basic aspects of selective visual attention. Aiming at organizing them into a rudimentary theoretical framework, we propose the following taxonomy of these basic attentional elements: (A) signal enhancement and distractor suppression; (B) stages of anticipation, selection, and maintenance of selected information; (C) implementations of selective processing in sensory cortices, and top-down control of this implementations; and finally (D) location-based spatial selection, and feature-based non-spatial selection.
We have planned six experiments in which we will employ the well-established experimental procedures of spatial- and feature-cueing, appropriately modified for the current needs. The cueing paradigm enables precise manipulation, control, and measurement of each of these aspects of visual attention at each relevant level and stage. In all six experiments, we will measure the time and accuracy of manual responses - as behavioral indices of attentional processes, and record the electroencephalograph (EEG) during the task performance. Frequency-specific oscillatory activity will be assessed by means of a multi-method time-frequency spectral analysis of the EEG signal, including multivariate sensor- and source-level analyses of power, phase, and inter-regional functional connectivity. In the last four of the six experiments, the causal role of the investigated oscillatory processes will be examined by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with EEG recordings. TMS will be used in two complementary ways: First, to induce local virtual “lesions” expected to impair the functioning of the entire connected network and related behavior. This will enable to examine the inter-regional causality of connections in the network. Second, TMS will be applied to entrain (boost) alpha and theta oscillations expected to improve the frequency-specific functions of the entire network and related behavior. This is a move from general inter-regional causality to frequency-specific causality, enabling to examine the functional and causal role of particular oscillations within the network. Multi-site electrophysiological recordings combined with population decoding and coherence analyses, extended by the TMS methods addressing the issue of causality, should significantly advance our mechanistic understanding of the neural underpinnings of attention.
This project is funded by the National Science Center (NCN) of Poland (2019-2025, grant Opus 17, UMO-2019/33/B/HS6/00096), and involves a cooperation between the BMS Faculty of the UT, the Faculty of Physics at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and the Institute of Psychology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.
Principal investigator: Rob van der Lubbe
ABSTRACT
Research objectives
Although many researchers in the field of spatial attention have argued that attention is needed to deal with capacity limitations at a perceptual level by selecting a part of the sensory information (i.e., external spatial attention), it has also been argued that its function is to select information to guide our current and possibly future actions (i.e., “selection for action”). Recent research revealed that retrieval of to-be-memorized information presented at a specific location (i.e., internal spatial attention) may actually be quite comparable to external spatial attention. As perceptual limitations play no role in the latter case, these findings can be better understood in terms of attention playing a crucial role for “selection for action”. Other research that examined the relation between different sensory modalities showed that vision, audition, and the tactile/somatosensory modality are spatially related, which led to the proposal that there may be a supramodal spatial attention module (SAM), involved with the selection of relevant information, that is shared between the different sensory modalities. SAM may not only be crucial for the selection of external but also for the selection of internal information. Thus, attention can be directed not only outwards, but also inwards, and attention can also shift between modalities. Additionally, one could argue that there are several possible configurations of the attentional system and someone’s intentions may at least partly determine the current configuration. This idea of a flexible configuration of the attentional system may be referred to as the dynamic attentional workspace account (DAWA). Interestingly, several candidate brain structures may be proposed to play a role. For example, SAM may be related to parietal cortex, intentions may be related to higher centers in prefrontal cortex, action selection may be related to premotor cortex, and primary and secondary sensory cortices are thought to be affected by SAM, which may reflect external and internal spatial attention. Goal of the project is to examine the validity of the proposed account by performing experiments in which relevant data acquired from the electroencephalogram (EEG) can test crucial predictions of the model.
Research methodology
Changes in the links between cortical sources in parietal, sensory, premotor, and prefrontal human brain areas can be examined with source coherence and granger causality analyses of high-density EEG recordings. Different experiments will be carried out in which performance will depend on different types of sensory or memorized information. The general idea is that coherence analyses may show that in one condition, activity in parietal and sensory cortex of the relevant modality is related, while these relations are thought to change when another sensory modality becomes task relevant. Furthermore, different types of task, requiring either stimulus detection or stimulus discrimination may also result in different links between for example parietal and premotor cortex. Granger causality analyses on estimated source activities may additionally reveal that prefrontal cortex plays a leading role in affecting the various links.
Project’s expected scientific and societal impact
The proposed model integrates research from different fields that are often considered to be separate, and may lead to a much better understanding of the impact of spatial attention on human cognition, not only by affecting our perception, but also by affecting our memory and our actions. An improved conception of attention and its dynamics will also be beneficial in our notion of clinical conditions in which people suffer from attentional problems, such as in the case of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia.
Project founded by the National Science Center (NCN) of Poland (2019 - 2024, grant Preludium 15, UMO-2018/29/N/HS6/01082).
Principal investigator: Ilona Kotlewska
ABSTRACT
In everyday life, we often notice familiar objects, such as cars identical to our own model or handbags that we recently purchased. Although we are familiar with the feeling of recognizing something "ours," it is difficult to label it definitively. Whether it's surprise, astonishment, perceptiveness, joy, pride, or simply the "Aha!" effect, our mind automatically reacts to the sight of something well-known. Similarly, we quickly recognize our face in a group photo.
It happens that we identify with objects of high emotional value, such as an engagement ring, or watch received as a gift, which become symbolic carriers of memories. We can say that these objects define us, so we include them in the circle of our own identity. Similarly, family members and friends are part of our lives – without them, we wouldn't be the same. This process of identifying with close individuals is called the extension of our "self." This research project aimed to investigate whether this extended "self" can also encompass objects significant for us.
Stimuli associated with our own person, such as our face, or name, trigger activity in the network of brain regions related to the concept of the self, known as cortical midline structures. These structures include, among others, the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex. The goal of this project was to examine whether the same brain areas react to objects belonging to us as they do to our own face. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we conducted a brain imaging study in which participants recognized their own faces among others or identified objects belonging to them among other objects of the same category, such as comparing their wallet with several different wallets.
The results of the magnetic resonance imaging studies indicated activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and lower temporal gyrus in the process of recognizing objects and one's own face compared to unfamiliar objects. The detailed results of the project include: (i) identifying areas of the prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate gyrus involved in the process of recognizing object properties; (ii) confirming the activity of the self-attention-network (SAN) in recognizing one's own objects; and (iii) confirming the hypothesis of the extended self, i.e., the ability to incorporate objects of high emotional value into the concept of one's own identity.
Project founded by the National Science Center (NCN) of Poland (2017-2024, grant SONATA BIS 6, UMO-2016/22/E/HS6/00139).
Principal investigator: Dariusz Asanowicz
ABSTRACT
Research objectives
Attention has been described as a set of three neural networks that constitute cognitive systems of attention and control three functions, alerting, orienting, and executive control. A large number of studies have supported this framework and shown that the three networks are relatively independent from each other both functionally and neuroanatomically. Nevertheless, this does not imply that these networks work completely independently from each other. On the contrary, they have been shown to interact in accomplishing various cognitive tasks and actions. However, the networks work together in a way, which we still do not understand. The present project aims to investigate the brain mechanisms of those interrelations and interactions between attentional networks. We have put forward several hypotheses and research questions on influences of alerting and orienting on the efficiency of executive network in resolution of conflicts, on influences of alerting on orienting network, and on proactive modulations exerted by executive network on alerting and orienting networks.
Research methodology
To measure the functioning and interactions of alerting, orienting, and executive attention, we use several variations of an experimental task called the attention network test (ANT). When participants perform the ANT we measure the brain electrical activity with the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the brain neural activation with a new optical imaging technique called the functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Next, to infer the cognitive and brain mechanisms of attention, we analyze behavioral indices of the three attentional networks (calculated from response times and error rates), event related electrophysiological potentials (ERPs), connectivity and information flow between different brain regions, and activations of brain areas involved in specific attentional operations.
Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society
Understanding of the cognitive and brain mechanisms of attention is of a great importance for understanding not only the attention itself, but also the role of attention in functioning and pathologies of many other aspects of the brain and the mind. Moreover, better understanding of attention may help to develop new rehabilitation methods for patients with neurological disorders of attention like hemispatial neglect, or interventions and treatment for children with attention deficit disorders like ADHD. Also, it may help to increase the safety on the streets. It is known that general lability and lapses of attention, as well as two specific attentional phenomena: inattentional blindness and change blindness are the frequent causes of road accidents. An innovative, modern approach that combines behavioral, electrophysiology, and imaging methods is crucial for further development of research on attention. We believe that the results of this project may help to link those levels of analysis into an overall cumulative account of attention and make thereby a valuable contribution to the progress and development of this research field.
Project founded by the National Science Center (NCN) of Poland (2013-2016, grant SONATA 5, UMO-2012/05/D/HS6/03363).
Principal investigator: Dariusz Asanowicz
ABSTRACT
Recent studies on spatial and temporal dynamics of visual information processing, which used the lateralized rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, revealed a striking phenomenon: a large left visual field advantage in conscious identification of visual events. This asymmetry is surprising mainly because of the size of the effect, which is comparable with an asymmetry observed in patients with hemispatial neglect, but not with results from other studies on healthy people. The objective of the present project is to understand still unclear mechanism underlying this phenomenon. We put forward six theoretical accounts, and we propose 11 experiments aiming at empirical verification of these accounts. Each of these hypotheses emphasizes a different mechanism of lateralization of visual processes. However, they are not mutually exclusive, rather they describe various aspects of the phenomenon.