Post by Amtram on Feb 14, 2014 20:48:27 GMT -5
Washington University of St. Louis was investigating attention in injured brains, and to me this looks like something that might eventually have some implications for studying and treating ADHD-related attention deficits. The abstract was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in November, and the press release from the researchers is here. The article begins:
They used a technique of mapping activity with brain electrodes that's usually used to determine the procedure for removing brain tissue from patients with uncontrollable epilepsy, and the tests were done on epileptic patients, but this finding has a number of other applications for the study of attention. Cool.
The brain appears to synchronize the activity of different brain regions to make it possible for a person to pay attention or concentrate on a task, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned.
Researchers think the process, roughly akin to tuning multiple walkie-talkies to the same frequency, may help establish clear channels for communication between brain areas that detect sensory stimuli.
“We think the brain not only puts regions that facilitate attention on alert but also makes sure those regions have open lines for calling each other,” said first author Amy Daitch, a graduate student researcher.
The results are available in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
People who suffer from brain injuries or strokes often have problems paying attention and concentrating.
“Attention deficits in brain injury have been thought of as a loss of the resources needed to concentrate on a task,” said senior author Maurizio Corbetta, MD, the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology. “However, this study shows that temporal alignment of responses in different brain areas is also a very important mechanism that contributes to attention and could be impaired by brain injury.”
Attention lets people ignore irrelevant sensory stimuli, like a driver disregarding a ringing cellphone, and pay attention to important stimuli, like a deer stepping onto the road in front of the car.
Researchers think the process, roughly akin to tuning multiple walkie-talkies to the same frequency, may help establish clear channels for communication between brain areas that detect sensory stimuli.
“We think the brain not only puts regions that facilitate attention on alert but also makes sure those regions have open lines for calling each other,” said first author Amy Daitch, a graduate student researcher.
The results are available in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
People who suffer from brain injuries or strokes often have problems paying attention and concentrating.
“Attention deficits in brain injury have been thought of as a loss of the resources needed to concentrate on a task,” said senior author Maurizio Corbetta, MD, the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology. “However, this study shows that temporal alignment of responses in different brain areas is also a very important mechanism that contributes to attention and could be impaired by brain injury.”
Attention lets people ignore irrelevant sensory stimuli, like a driver disregarding a ringing cellphone, and pay attention to important stimuli, like a deer stepping onto the road in front of the car.
They used a technique of mapping activity with brain electrodes that's usually used to determine the procedure for removing brain tissue from patients with uncontrollable epilepsy, and the tests were done on epileptic patients, but this finding has a number of other applications for the study of attention. Cool.