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Brain Dysfunction > Lecture 8 - Attention & Consciousness > Flashcards

Lecture 8 - Attention & Consciousness Flashcards

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The Brain flashcards
1
Q

What’s attention & consciousness ?

A
  • Attention : strategy of narrowing your focus to a selective part of sensory environment
  • Consciousness : the awareness of the selection process
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2
Q

What are the 4 different types of attention ?

A
  • Selective attention
  • Divided attention
  • Fixed attention
  • Shifting attention
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3
Q

What are the features of attention ?

A
  • Efficient
  • Based on prior information from memory system
  • Selective : focus on specific features
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4
Q

What are the features of consciousness ?

A
  • Involves memory & language
  • Closely relates to awareness, wakefulness & arousal
  • Not selective : provides a gist of the world
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5
Q

What are the 2 possible processes in attention ?

A

Controlled & automatic

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6
Q

What are controlled processes in attention ?

A
  • Focused attention (top-down)
  • Rely on prior information/memory/concepts
  • Cognitively effortful
  • Metabolically less efficient
  • Make multitasking difficult
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7
Q

What are automatic processes in attention ?

A
  • Automatic responses to external stimuli (bottom-up)
  • Occur without intention or awareness
  • Cognitively effortless
  • Metabolically efficient
  • Allow multitasking
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8
Q

How does attention influence perception according to Treisman’s model ?

A
  • Attention = “glue”
  • Combine features into unitary objects
  • Facilitate perception & memory
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9
Q

How are automatic processes different from conscious operations ?

A
  • Autonomic processes : bottom-up (prompted by external stimuli)
  • Conscious operations : top-down (require focused attention)
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10
Q

According to Treisman’s model of feature search, what happens during visual processing ?

A
  • Stimuli registered in V1 are processed into separate feature maps
  • Attention selects & integrates features at specific locations
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11
Q

Why might the brain prioritize detection of negative stimuli ?

A
  • Evolution/survival : crucial to detect potential threatening or dangerous stimuli
  • Activation of amygdala (fear processing)
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12
Q

What is the “binding problem” in neuroscience ?

A

How does the brain combine sensory experiences & motor events to create a unified perception ?

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13
Q

What are the 4 processes believed to be prerequisites for consciousness ?

A
  • Arousal : waking the brain via nonspecific neuromodulatory systems
  • Perception : detection & binding of sensory features
  • Attention : selection of a restricted sample of sensory features
  • Working memory : ST program of ongoing events
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14
Q

Which area of the brain is crucial for divided attention ?

A

R posterior parietal cortex (LIP)

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15
Q

What’s the difference between selective & divided attention in terms of function ?

A
  • Specific attention : detect change in specific feature
  • Divided attention : detect change in any feature
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16
Q

What’s the difference between selective & divided attention in terms of brain areas ?

A
  • Selective attention : increased activity in specific visual regions, insula, pulvinar, superior colliculus, OFC
  • Divided attention, increased activity in DLPFC & ACC
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17
Q

What are the three distinct networks of attention ?

A
  • Executive control
  • Alerting
  • Orienting
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18
Q

Which brain structures and neurotransmitter are involved in the alerting network of attention ?

A
  • Locus coeruleus & frontal/parietal cortex
  • Norepinephrine
19
Q

Which brain structures and neurotransmitter are involved in the orienting network of attention ?

A
  • STPJ, frontal eye field, superior colliculus & pulvinar
  • Acetylcholine
20
Q

Which brain structures and neurotransmitter are involved in the executive control network of attention ?

A
  • ACC, anterior insula & basal ganglia
  • Dopamine
21
Q

What’s synchrony ?

A

Precise, coordinated firing of neurons in different regions of the brain (crucial for attention & consciousness)

22
Q

What are the two sub-networks within the orienting network ?

A

Dorsal & ventral orienting networks

23
Q

What is the primary function of the alerting network in attention ?

A
  • Maintaining alertness & focus
  • Enhancing responses to relevant stimuli
  • Increase RT & productivity, enhance decision-making & memory consolidation
24
Q

What are some disorders associated with the alerting network ?

A

ADHD & PTSD

25
Q

How does the orienting network function in attention ?

A
  • Facilitates quick focus on external stimuli or locations triggered by salient stimuli
26
Q

What is the role of the dorsal orienting network ?

A
  • Engagement & focus on specific stimuli or location
  • Primary R lateralized
27
Q

What is the role of the ventral orienting network ?

A
  • Disengagement & relevance
  • Help to shift attention based on the importance of stimuli
28
Q

What are some disorders associated with the orienting network ?

A

Autism & PTSD

29
Q

What is the primary function of the executive network in attention ?

A
  • Regulates attention (top-down)
  • Based on task instructions, personal goals & expected outcomes
30
Q

What are the two sub-networks within the executive network ?

A
  • Frontoparietal & cingolo-opercular networks
31
Q

How does the fronto-parietal network contribute to attention ?

A
  • Adjust attention to different contexts
32
Q

How does the cingulo-opercular network contribute to attention ?

A
  • Maintain attention on a task
33
Q

What are some effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on attention ?

A
  • Affect fronto-parietal network & striatum
  • Improve cognitive stability
  • Reduce cognitive flexibility
34
Q

How does acute stress affect attention ?

A
  • Disrupts attentional control & functional connectivity
  • Affects fronto-parietal network
35
Q

How does acute stress affect attention ?

A
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Depression
  • OCD
  • Personality disorders
  • Schizophrenia
  • Substance abuse
36
Q

What is inattentional blindness ?

A

Failure to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight (because attention is engaged on other task)

37
Q

What is change blindness ?

A

Inability to detect change in a visual scene, even when changes are significant

38
Q

What is attentional blink ?

A

Failure to detect a second stimulus if it appears shortly after the first stimulus within a rapid sequence

39
Q

What are the key components of consciousness ?

A

Awareness, wakefulness & arousal

40
Q

How does the ventral stream differ from the dorsal stream in terms of consciousness ?

A
  • Ventral stream : associated with conscious processing
  • Dorsal stream : associated with unconscious processing
41
Q

What is the hypothesis regarding consciousness and neuronal synchronization ?

A

Consciousness relies on synchronization of neuronal firing rates (6-8Hz) within a specific network

42
Q

Which brain regions are inactive during coma, vegetative state, sleep, and anesthesia ?

A
  • Fronto-parietal network
  • Default mode network
  • Claustrum
  • Reticular formation
43
Q

What are the dual systems of information processing ?

A
  • Automatic processes : fast thinking, rapid, unconscious
  • Conscious control : slow thinking, deliberate, logical

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