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Cingulo-opercular network activity maintains alertness.

Clio P Coste1, Andreas Kleinschmidt1

  • 1Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Geneva (UNIGE), CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland; Unité 992, Cognitive Neuroimaging, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France; NeuroSpin, Institut d'Imagerie Biomédicale/Direction des Sciences du Vivant/Commissariat à L'Énergie Atomique, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Neuroimage
|January 24, 2016
PubMed
Summary

This study isolated alertness from attention using a novel sparse design. Findings reveal the cingulo-opercular network is crucial for sustained alertness, distinct from attention networks.

Keywords:
AttentionHuman brainSpontaneous activityVigilancefMRI

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging
  • Human Brain Research

Background:

  • Previous alertness research often conflated it with selective attention due to predictable targets.
  • A clear distinction between alertness and attention is necessary for understanding cognitive control.
  • Isolating alertness requires minimizing predictability of target stimuli.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To anatomically and functionally dissociate alertness from attention.
  • To identify brain networks involved in sustained alertness independent of stimulus prediction.
  • To investigate the role of pre-stimulus brain activity in modulating reaction times.

Main Methods:

  • Employed a sparse event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design with unpredictable auditory and visual targets.
  • Analyzed pre-stimulus brain activity in relation to reaction times to isolate alertness-related neural signals.
  • Investigated activity in the cingulo-opercular network, default mode network, and dorsal attention network.

Main Results:

  • Increased pre-stimulus activity in the cingulo-opercular network and default mode network correlated with faster reaction speeds.
  • Only the cingulo-opercular network exhibited task-positive responses, suggesting its direct role in alertness.
  • Pre-stimulus activity in the dorsal attention network was irrelevant or detrimental to performance, particularly for auditory targets.

Conclusions:

  • Alertness can be dissociated from attention using paradigms with minimal stimulus predictability.
  • The cingulo-opercular network plays a central role in sustaining alertness.
  • Pre-stimulus activity in specific brain networks differentially influences performance on alertness tasks.