Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain

In the burdened scenes of everyday life, our brains must select from among many competing inputs for perceptual synthesis - so that only the most relevant receive full attention and irrelevant (distracting) information is suppressed. At the same time, we must remain responsive to salient events outs...

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Main Authors: Joy J. Geng, Karl J. Friston, Simone Vossel
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media SA 2021
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Online Access:17696
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author Joy J. Geng
Karl J. Friston
Simone Vossel
author_browse Joy J. Geng
Karl J. Friston
Simone Vossel
author_facet Joy J. Geng
Karl J. Friston
Simone Vossel
author_sort Joy J. Geng
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In the burdened scenes of everyday life, our brains must select from among many competing inputs for perceptual synthesis - so that only the most relevant receive full attention and irrelevant (distracting) information is suppressed. At the same time, we must remain responsive to salient events outside our current focus of attention - and balancing these two processing modes is a fundamental task our brain constantly needs to solve. Both the physical saliency of a stimulus, as well as top-down predictions about imminent sensations crucially influence attentional selection and consequently the response to unexpected events. Research over recent decades has identified two separate brain networks involved in predictive top-down control and reorientation to unattended events (or oddball stimuli): the dorsal and ventral fronto-parietal attention systems of the human brain. Moreover, specific electrophysiological brain responses are known to characterize attentional orienting as well as the processing of deviant stimuli. However, many key questions are outstanding. What are the exact functional differences between these cortical attention systems? How are they lateralised in the two hemispheres? How do top-down and bottom-up signals interact to enable flexible attentional control? How does structural damage to one system affect the functionality of the other in brain damaged patients? Are there sensory-specific and supra-modal attentional systems in the brain? In addition to these questions, it is now accepted that brain responses are not only affected by the saliency of external stimuli, but also by our expectations about sensory inputs. How these two influences are balanced, and how predictions are formed in cortical networks, or generated on the basis of experience-dependent learning, are intriguing issues. In this Research Topic, we aim to collect innovative contributions that shed further light on the (cortical) mechanisms of attentional control in the human brain. In particular, we would like to encourage submissions that investigate the behavioural correlates, functional anatomy or electrophysiological markers of attentional selection and reorientation. Special emphasis will be given to studies investigating the context-sensitivity of these attentional processes in relation to prior expectations, trial history, contextual cues or physical saliency. We would like to encourage submissions employing different research methods (psychophysical recordings, neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI, MEG, EEG or ECoG, as well as neurostimulation methods such as TMS or tDCS) in healthy volunteers or neurological patients. Computational models and animal studies are also welcome. Finally, we also welcome submission of meta-analyses and reviews articles that provide new insights into, or conclusions about recent work in the field.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-415272024-04-05T17:29:59Z Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain Joy J. Geng Karl J. Friston Simone Vossel RC321-571 Q1-390 reward emotions EEG attentional networks trial history TMS predictions neuroimaging thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences In the burdened scenes of everyday life, our brains must select from among many competing inputs for perceptual synthesis - so that only the most relevant receive full attention and irrelevant (distracting) information is suppressed. At the same time, we must remain responsive to salient events outside our current focus of attention - and balancing these two processing modes is a fundamental task our brain constantly needs to solve. Both the physical saliency of a stimulus, as well as top-down predictions about imminent sensations crucially influence attentional selection and consequently the response to unexpected events. Research over recent decades has identified two separate brain networks involved in predictive top-down control and reorientation to unattended events (or oddball stimuli): the dorsal and ventral fronto-parietal attention systems of the human brain. Moreover, specific electrophysiological brain responses are known to characterize attentional orienting as well as the processing of deviant stimuli. However, many key questions are outstanding. What are the exact functional differences between these cortical attention systems? How are they lateralised in the two hemispheres? How do top-down and bottom-up signals interact to enable flexible attentional control? How does structural damage to one system affect the functionality of the other in brain damaged patients? Are there sensory-specific and supra-modal attentional systems in the brain? In addition to these questions, it is now accepted that brain responses are not only affected by the saliency of external stimuli, but also by our expectations about sensory inputs. How these two influences are balanced, and how predictions are formed in cortical networks, or generated on the basis of experience-dependent learning, are intriguing issues. In this Research Topic, we aim to collect innovative contributions that shed further light on the (cortical) mechanisms of attentional control in the human brain. In particular, we would like to encourage submissions that investigate the behavioural correlates, functional anatomy or electrophysiological markers of attentional selection and reorientation. Special emphasis will be given to studies investigating the context-sensitivity of these attentional processes in relation to prior expectations, trial history, contextual cues or physical saliency. We would like to encourage submissions employing different research methods (psychophysical recordings, neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI, MEG, EEG or ECoG, as well as neurostimulation methods such as TMS or tDCS) in healthy volunteers or neurological patients. Computational models and animal studies are also welcome. Finally, we also welcome submission of meta-analyses and reviews articles that provide new insights into, or conclusions about recent work in the field. 2021-02-11T08:39:09Z 2021-02-11T08:39:09Z 2015-11-19 16:29:12 2015 book 17696 16648714 9782889193677 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/41527 eng Frontiers Research Topics image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International http://www.frontiersin.org/books/Attention_predictions_and_expectations_and_their_violation_attentional_control_in_the_human_brain/545 http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/1024/attention-predictions-and-expectations-and-their-violation-attentional-control-in-the-human-brain Frontiers Media SA 10.3389/978-2-88919-367-7 10.3389/978-2-88919-367-7 bf5ce210-e72e-4860-ba9b-c305640ff3ae 9782889193677 211 open access
spellingShingle RC321-571
Q1-390
reward
emotions
EEG
attentional networks
trial history
TMS
predictions
neuroimaging
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences
Joy J. Geng
Karl J. Friston
Simone Vossel
Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain
title Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain
title_full Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain
title_fullStr Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain
title_full_unstemmed Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain
title_short Attention, predictions and expectations and their violation: attentional control in the human brain
title_sort attention predictions and expectations and their violation attentional control in the human brain
topic RC321-571
Q1-390
reward
emotions
EEG
attentional networks
trial history
TMS
predictions
neuroimaging
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences
topic_facet RC321-571
Q1-390
reward
emotions
EEG
attentional networks
trial history
TMS
predictions
neuroimaging
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences
url 17696
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