The attention system of the human brain: 20 years after

Abstract

Here, we update our 1990 Annual Review of Neuroscience article, "The Attention System of the Human Brain." The framework presented in the original article has helped to integrate behavioral, systems, cellular, and molecular approaches to common problems in attention research. Our framework has been both elaborated and expanded in subsequent years. Research on orienting and executive functions has supported the addition of new networks of brain regions. Developmental studies have shown important changes in control systems between infancy and childhood. In some cases, evidence has supported the role of specific genetic variations, often in conjunction with experience, that account for some of the individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks. The findings have led to increased understanding of aspects of pathology and to some new interventions.

Figure 1

The locus coeruleus projections of the alerting system shown on a macaque brain. The diffuse connections interact with other, more strongly localized systems. The alerting system also includes regions of the frontal and parietal cortices (not shown). Reproduced from Aston-Jones & Cohen (2005).

Figure 2

(a) The dorsal and ventral orienting networks (after Corbetta & Shulman 2002). The dorsal attention network (light green) consists of frontal eye fields (FEF) and the intraparietal sulcus/superior parietal lobe (IPS/SPL). The ventral attention network (teal) consists of regions in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and the ventral frontal cortex (VFC). (b) Two networks of the executive control system. The circled region indicates the original member of the executive control system from Posner & Petersen (1990). The remaining regions come from the elaboration of the original cingulo-opercular system (black) and the addition of the frontoparietal system (yellow) (adapted from Dosenbach et al. 2007). (c) Resting-state correlation reflecting separate control systems. The figure illustrates three views of the brain (left, dorsal view; middle, tilted lateral view; right, medial view). These separable resting networks are consistent with the distinctions based on functional criteria exhibited in panels a and b: dorsal attention (green), ventral attention (teal), cingulo-opercular (black), frontoparietal (yellow) (adapted from Power et al. 2011).

Figure 3

Executive control signals. The top panel shows three putative executive control signals: a task initiation signal in yellow, a task-maintenance signal in red, and activity related to correct (black) and error (blue) trials (adapted from Dosenbach et al. 2006). Regions showing differences in error versus correct trials are considered to be computing or receiving performance feedback. The bottom figure shows activity in the left anterior insula during a task that contains all the putative signals (plus a transient transition signal at the end of the block of trials). MR, magnetic resonance.