Hemispheric functional segregation facilitates target detection during sustained visuospatial attention

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Visuospatial attention is typically lateralized to the right hemisphere.
• The influence of this hemispheric asymmetry on information transfer and performance remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how attention side affects functional connectivity (FC) and its relation to performance.
• To explore inter-hemispheric information transfer during visuospatial attention tasks.

Main Methods:

• Used steady-state fMRI functional connectivity (FC) analysis.
• Employed a region of interest (ROI) and network-based approach.
• Analyzed data during a covert visuospatial attention task (leftward/rightward).

Main Results:

• Global FC topology was independent of the attended side.
• Attention side modulated FC strength between brain networks.
• Leftward attention involved right visual network connections with attention networks.

Conclusions:

• Hemispheric functional segregation correlates with faster response times, indicating better performance.
• Right hemisphere dominance in visuospatial attention is linked to beneficial hemispheric functional segregation.