Human brain regions required for the dividing and switching of attention between two features of a single object

• Published in: Brain research. Cognitive brain research Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 1 - 13
• Main Authors: Barrett, N.A., Large, M.M., Smith, G.L., Karayanidis, F., Michie, P.T., Kavanagh, D.J., Fawdry, R., Henderson, D., O’Sullivan, B.T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-06-2003; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Attention - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping - methods; Cognition; Divided attention; Evoked Potentials - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Neural basis of behaviour; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; PET; Photic Stimulation - methods; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Switching attention; Tomography, Emission-Computed - methods; Visual attention; Working memory; Divided attention; Neural basis of behaviour; Cognition; Working memory; Visual attention; PET; Switching attention; Radionuclide study; Cerebellum; Human; Central nervous system; Electrophysiology; Temporal cortex; Prefrontal cortex; Vision; Task switching; Perception; Event evoked potential; Brain (vertebrata); Emission tomography
• ISSN: 0926-6410
• DOI: 10.1016/S0926-6410(02)00246-X

This combined PET and ERP study was designed to identify the brain regions activated in switching and divided attention between different features of a single object using matched sensory stimuli and motor response. The ERP data have previously been reported in this journal
[64]. We now present the corresponding PET data. We identified partially overlapping neural networks with paradigms requiring the switching or dividing of attention between the elements of complex visual stimuli. Regions of activation were found in the prefrontal and temporal cortices and cerebellum. Each task resulted in different prefrontal cortical regions of activation lending support to the functional subspecialisation of the prefrontal and temporal cortices being based on the cognitive operations required rather than the stimuli themselves.