Augmenting Attention with Brain–Computer Interfaces
Chang S. Nam, Anton Nijholt, Fabien Lotte in Brain–Computer Interfaces Handbook, 2018
Several types of attentional mechanisms have been defined in the literature. Overt and covert attention refer to attentional reactions performed with and without eye movements, respectively. According to Rizzolatti’s premotor theory of attention (Rizzolatti et al. 1987), spatial attention (both overt and covert) is controlled by the same brain regions that move the eyes. The premotor theory of attention explains such overlap between the oculomotor and attentional areas in the following way: to produce overt shifts of attention, eye movements are first prepared and then executed; covert shifts of attention are also prepared by the same areas but not executed. Rizzolatti’s theory gained some support from the functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that demonstrated an overlap between the cortical regions activated during both covert and overt shifts of attention (de Haan et al. 2008). Moreover, neurons in the superior colliculus, the area responsible for generation of saccades (rapid eye movement from one fixation point to another), have been shown to be involved in both overt and covert shifts of attention (Ignashchenkova et al. 2004).
Development of attention
Ajay Sharma, Helen Cockerill, Lucy Sanctuary in Mary Sheridan's From Birth to Five Years, 2021
Objects and events looked at with close attention are learnt and remembered better. When children sustain attention, they look interested and calm, with decreased body movements and intent facial expression. Motivation, temperament and cognitive ability enable them to generate and carry out longer sequences of activity. From the age of 2 years onwards, children's own goals and plans make their attention less vulnerable to distractions. A significant problem characteristic of children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is difficulty sustaining the effort necessary to persist at a task and a strong tendency to seek immediate rewards (Ruff and Rothbart 1996: 202).
Fighting for our lives
Philip N. Murphy in The Routledge International Handbook of Psychobiology, 2018
Another key cognitive process that determines behaviour during the impact stage of an emergency is executive attention. Executive attention provides control and regulation over attentional resources, combining selective and sustained attention that enables modulation of working memory capacity and serves to maintain operational information in an active and quickly retrievable state (Engle, 2002). Importantly, executive attention also inhibits unwanted distracting information, resolves conflicts between incompatible sources of information, focuses cognitive resources onto important tasks and plays a role in self-regulation (Fernandez-Duque, Baird & Posner, 2000; Kaplan & Berman, 2010). Executive attention is the functional link between the supervisory system and working memory and can be considered as the guidance system for enabling goal-directed behaviour (Leach, 2016). Impairment in executive attention during a survival situation can compromise the ability to co-ordinate and adapt useful behaviours or avoid being distracted by irrelevant environmental stimuli.
Functional impact of bothersome tinnitus on cognitive test performance
Published in International Journal of Audiology, 2021
LaGuinn P. Sherlock, Douglas S. Brungart
There is growing evidence of impaired concentration as a consequence of bothersome tinnitus, validating the subjective perception of difficulty with concentration. Concentration can be assessed using a variety of cognitive tests and poorer performance on cognitive tasks that rely on attention, and to a lesser extent, memory, has been demonstrated in participants with bothersome tinnitus (Andersson et al. 2000; Hallam et al. 2004; Rossiter et al. 2006; Heeren et al. 2014; Araneda et al. 2015). Hallam et al. (2004) postulated that the ability to control attention and, more specifically, the ability to inhibit attention to irrelevant stimuli, is impaired in individuals with bothersome tinnitus. They proposed that this effect could be objectively measured using selective attention paradigms in individuals with bothersome tinnitus. Selective attention requires the ability to direct attention to a specific target while suppressing irrelevant information.
External relative to internal attentional focus enhances motor performance and learning in visually impaired individuals
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2020
Reza Abdollahipour, William M. Land, Ana Cereser, Suzete Chiviacowsky
The findings of the current study also shed light on the mechanisms that underlie the beneficial effects of external focus of attention. Previous research studies have shown the advantages of external compared to the internal focus of attention are independent of vision in discrete motor actions [10,46,47]. The current results corroborate the independency of external focus benefits from vision not only for discrete motor actions (experiment 1), but also for locomotion-based continuous motor actions that usually are highly dependent on visual information (experiment 2). To our knowledge, the results of experiment 2 is the first to indicate that vision does not mediate the beneficial effects of the external compared to the internal focus instructions in continuous motor actions. Therefore, according to the findings of previous studies [10,46,47] and the current study, vision does not mediate the beneficial effects of external focus of attention in motor tasks that are under either feedforward or feedback motor control. Consequently, the performance differences associated with attentional focus seems to have no relation with constraining visual information during an internal focus, nor enrichment of picking up visual information during an external focus [54,55].
The associations between executive functions and different aspects of perceived pain, beyond the influence of depression, in rehabilitation setting
Published in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2020
Odelia Elkana, Yael Conti, Ofir Heyman, Sami Hamdan, Motty Franko, Jean-Jacques Vatine
Extended models such as the Neurocognitive model of attention to pain (Legrain et al., 2009), widen the basic model by adding two modes of selection: top-down and bottom-up attention. Top-down selection is an intentional and goal-directed process that prioritizes information relevant for current actions. This is achieved by amplifying the activity of neurons that respond to relevant stimuli, and by inhibiting activity of those that respond to irrelevant stimuli. Bottom-up selection corresponds to an unintentional stimulus-driven captivate of attention by events themselves (inside and outside stimuli). Because attention is transiently switched from current goals to these stimuli, it is often a source of distraction (i.e., poorer performance in goal-directed tasks). The automatic capture of attention by pain is a critical feature of its alarm function.
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