Spatiotemporal dynamics of attentional orienting and reorienting revealed by fast optical imaging

This study provides new findings about the characterization of the neural spatio-temporal dynamics of attentional processes, by employing event-related optical signal (EROS) along with Granger causality. This combined approach allowed us to trace the time-course of brain activations of cortical regions engaged in endogenous orienting and reorienting processes, highlighting different causal roles played by dorsal, ventral and visual areas in visuospatial attention. Our results suggest a causal activation pattern comprising dorsal and visual regions both in orienting and reorienting, adding to the latter process the involvement of ventral areas which exhibit a post perceptual function

本研究借助事件相关光学信号（event-related optical signal, EROS）与格兰杰因果（Granger causality）分析方法，针对注意过程的神经时空动态特征刻画提出了全新研究发现。该联合研究手段得以追踪内源性定向（endogenous orienting）与重新定向（reorienting）过程中参与的大脑皮层区域的激活时序，阐明了背侧（dorsal）、腹侧（ventral）及视觉皮层区域在视觉空间注意（visuospatial attention）中所承担的差异化因果作用。研究结果显示，在定向与重新定向过程中均存在包含背侧与视觉皮层区域的因果激活模式；而在重新定向这一过程中，还额外涉及具备知觉后功能的腹侧皮层区域的参与，进一步补充了相关领域的既有认知。